Love: Language of True Art

As I read Gadamer's work Truth and Method, and he explains the shifts in understanding concepts like allegory and symbol, I find myself wonder: how do we speak of silence, how can we describe and communicate about the unseen?

          In our days we have lived through eras of rationality, of sense-based truth claims, of empirically based science ideals, philosophies of materialism and naturalism. We have seen the pitfalls of the Enlightenment, stumbled into the dark of nihilism, and still come out into the land of wondering: what is real, what is truth? Beyond my horizon is another horizon.

          How do we know about the things we intuitively sense are there - things unseen, things of an inner or outer world, a spiritual reality...? Even as a Christian, the answer is not easy. God reveals himself in history, and in direct speech, direct encounters. God became man and lived among us: Jesus. We have been given God's Holy Spirit, who will help us understand and live in relationship with God. That is such a miracle, and it does not depend on my own faculties. The relationship, however, does imply experience through our senses. It does not 'sneak in' any back way unconsciously. Anyway, it is easy for God - he does not have restrictions, other than the ones he might put on himself for our sake.

          But how do we communicate about this? And how do we speak of other aspects of life - of truth and beauty, for instance? Our language is in the arts. Some is verbal, yet more than prose; some is non-verbal, and we connect immediately, as from heart to heart.

          Our language is also in love. "Love your neighbour as yourself", says Jesus. A friendly reply, words of encouragement, may blow one's soul out of the doldrums of silence. Acceptance, even of diverging view points, may open the parachute of faith into daring to think independently. Walls of protection in the inner being of an individual may be dismantled, and new interaction may occur. In order for communication about faith, hope, love, about the things unseen and unheard, we need security of love and acceptance to flourish. "You took my hand in yours. You started breaking down my walls. And you covered my heart in kisses", sings Sia. The metaphor is strong. Perhaps had she her own experiences and a special person in mind. Still, what she sings is true for more than her. When I first read the lyrics and listened to this song, "Dressed in Black" I needed to walk away from my desk, find a solitary place and weep. It was so true. Her lyrics is full of images, symbolic expressions, perhaps even allegory. But more than that, she spoke with the power of true art.