Babel, Pentecost, and the Cave

as we focused again on language and light in AWE this week, I was struck by the connections that occur over and over again in scripture between light and language and the echos that I see of that in places like Plato. Pentecost is seen as the undoing of the damage done at Babel and yet the way that is achieved is not simply through a display of language but also a pyrotechnic display of the Holy Spirit. It harkens back in my mind to the opening of John, where the Word is connected with the Light, and those of us in darkness cannot comprehend the Light, or the Word. It reminds me a lot of Plato's analogy of the cave which he uses to talk about language and our understanding of the forms. In Plato's analogy we are left looking at a knowing about merely shadows on the wall, impressions made of real objects that are reflected off the walls by people standing around a fire behind us. But in Plato's analogy of the cave even the fire is simply a poor substitute for the true light in our lives. Plato seems to raise the question as to whether or not we could really handle the true light or if we would simply be blinded by it. From what I recall of Plato from philosophy class we are really left deal with partial understandings, incomplete truths, never able to see fully what is there, to understand the true nature of the forms of things. Plato really embraces that notion that those of us in darkness are not able to handle the Light of the world. Are our eyes are too dimmed by our trogolodyte dwelling that we cannot adjust to the brightness of the Light. Plato would not necassirly subscribe his great light to God, but there is certainly a push by neo-Platonic thinkers to make the leap even if Plato never would have done that.

So as someone who from time to time thinks of himself as a neo-Platonic I am left with this question, how does our understanding of Pentecost change our understanding of the trap that both Plato and John see, that we cannot trully handle the light because of the darkness we wrap ourselves in? At the AWE service I suggested that maybe our job as Christians was to be little Christs, little Lights that would shine in the darkness and make the true Light more bearable, more believable for those around us. Looking at the radical teachings of Christ and how hard people struggle to believe in the complete grace and love that Christ offers us I think there is a need for us to model some of Christ's grace, some of Christ's love, so that others can find that total grace and love a little more believable. At the same time, have we really been able to see and experience the Light for ourselves? have we left enough the darkness behind to see the Light? In Plato we are captives, chained to the wall, forced to look upon the shadow puppets dancing before us, unable to turn and see the show behind us directly. Does Christ free us from the chains? Does the Holy Spirit unbind us to get a better glance at what is really going on? Or is the separation of Babel simply a deeper reflection of the separation of Eden, that until we are fully united with God we can never return to being fully united with each other? How does Pentecost help us remove the barriers to understanding that divide the world constantly between us and them, how do we increase our understanding of what IS so that we can get a fuller glimpse of the Light and can come closer to the reconcilation we seek? I leave the answers for others to ponder and come up with ...