THEOLOGY 3 TOPIC 1 ANAMNESIS VS. AMNESIA

TH221 E         CELEBRATING GOD’S PRESENCE

AS A CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Topic 1:

ANAMNESIS versus AMNESIA

(We Remember. We Believe. We Celebrate. We Love.)

Objective: At the end of this session the student is able to design a ritual-celebration that incorporates remembrance, believing, celebrating and loving using relevant signs and symbols of their experience of God’s love and presence in ordinary life.

From “Responding to God” to “Celebrating God’s presence”

Welcome to the third theology subject/course in Adamson University’s Theology Curriculum on Faith Journey towards Social Transformation.

                In Theology 1, Searching for God in the World Today, we saw that “theology” is less of an abstract or theoretical activity as much as it is about reflecting on the ordinary, the everyday life. We defined theology as a process or a practice of consciously and methodically reflecting on our experience of God in the ordinariness of life and social and historical events of the world. We “do theology” using the methodology of “see-discern-act/pray.” Ultimately the goal of theology is for us to have a deeper and intimate relationship with God-in-Jesus.

                In that course, we talked about our everyday, the role of cultures and religion, and how the Christian searches for God’s loving and saving presence in the ordinariness of life. We spoke about “Revelation-Faith” and how the Bible narrates the experiences of those who witnessed God’s marvelous deeds in our world. In all of God’s action in the world, Jesus of Nazareth embodied God’s life and love through His proclamation in words and deeds the Kingdom of God. His death and resurrection have to be seen in that context: a life given for the sake of the Kingdom so that all may experience kaginhawaan or salvation.

                We ended Theology 1 by focusing on St. Vincent de Paul, who tried to follow Jesus in his own ways in his time. Today, we are also invited to retell the story of God’s life and love by following Jesus as students.

In Theology 2, Responding to God’s Call by Becoming Fully Human, using the same methodology of “see-discern-act/pray,” the course dealt with what it means to be truly and fully human from the Christian perspective. This is our way of responding to the invitation of God-in-Jesus whose Spirit is ever-present and active in the world.

We started with the Christian vision of humanity. Such a vision challenges us to become truly and fully human and fully alive as the image of God in our realities of body and soul, male and female, in our everyday life, experiences, and relationships of love and failure to love, suffering, and  goodness of God, and even in death.

                To be truly and fully human and fully alive, we focused on the need to practice virtues or good habits (or “mabuting gawi”) in everyday life. The practice and “perfection” of virtues as good habits or habits of being human or habits of the heart are what will help us and shape us to become good persons with the help of a community and role models. Together with Sacred Scriptures and the example of St. Vincent de Paul, and using the rich resource of the Filipino culture and tradition, we reflected on the virtues of hospitality and gratitude (“pagmamagandang loob”), prudence and temperance (“paglilimi at pamumuhay ng sapat”), self-care and integrity (“pangangatawan ng loob”), fidelity and mutuality (“katapatan sa kapwa”), temperance and risk-taking (“pagtataya at hiya”), reconciling/forgiving and compassion/mercy (“pagbabalik-loob at pagmamalasakit”), and finally,  justice, courage and hope ( “bahala na” with “katarungan”). The opposite of virtue is vice or “masamang gawi” or “di-magandang gawi”). These are obstacles to becoming truly and fully human, and therefore they move us further away from our true selves.

Celebrating God’s Presence

In this Theology 3, Celebrating God’s Presence as a Christian Community, we will realize that we are not alone in our journey of becoming truly and fully human and fully alive. God-in-Jesus continues to be present to us as a pilgrim People of God - the church. The church-community of today continues to proclaim in words and deeds the liberating message of Jesus by being relevant in its mission of evangelization in the context of new challenges  or “signs of the times”, especially those that affect severely the poor and the suffering, in the spirit and example of St. Vincent de Paul.

From this understanding of the church in solidarity with the whole of humanity and the whole of creation, we are able to better understand the sacraments as celebrations of God’s active presence of love and life in the world and as a challenge for us (as church-community) to give witness to its story as the sacrament of Christ’s saving unity and fellowship in the world.

Let us “SEE”

            Let us now have the first step, to “see” our present-day experiences.

                Seatwork #1: My most “prized” or “cherished” possession.

                All of us have objects or things that we consider important or valuable. It can be that these objects or things have a connection with a significant and memorable person, an experience or a moment in our life. We carry these objects or things in our bodies, purse or bag, or they are placed in a particular place in our house or bedroom. You are asked to think of just one (1) important or significant or memorable item or object. Then write your answers on the spaces provided in the worksheet.        

My most prized or cherished possession that reminds of a person, an experience or a life-moment is:           _________________________________________________________

1.       Why do you consider it as your most prized/cherished possession? What is its connection to your life?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2.       How do you show or express that these items or objects are important to you? What do you usually do or how do you usually treat these objects/items?

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

3.       Do you think it is possible for other people to also see your most prized/cherished possession as their prized/cherished possession? Why or Why not?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Triad Sharing: Choose two classmates with whom you want to share your most cherished possession. You may also show it to them if you have it with you. Using your seatwork exercise, explain to your group mates your answer to the three (3) questions. While listening, try to put yourself into the experience of your group mates, and avoid making judgements or comments. Simply listen with your mind and heart. Select one among you who will give a brief report of your conversations. (You have 20 minutes for the sharing.)

Class Plenum: (Reporters are called to give a summary of their group sharing.)

Synthesis: (by the Teacher)

Let us “Discern”

We Remember. We Believe. We Celebrate. We Love (We Live).

1.       We Remember

Many of the items or objects we shared to our group are not really important or valuable in themselves. Most of them are ordinary, everyday objects or items, almost easily accessible and readily available to almost anyone. Yet, we cannot deny and neither can we ignore the fact that for us they are meaningful, important, something that we consider our prized or cherished possession. What makes these objects/items important or meaningful is that they are somewhat link either to a person, event or experience that we have in the past that we find meaningful and significant; though not exclusively pleasant.  It can be that the object/item is linked to a parent, a present or past lover, a friend, a good and inspiring teacher, or maybe even an enemy. It can also be that the object is linked to happy memories from the past and which continue to give us strength or courage. Even after that “One Moment in Time” is over we continue to hold on to such experience, and it continues to influence our life. They may be moments of successes or failures, struggles, joys and hopes, grief and anxieties, etc.

Such remembering is facilitated by signs and symbols around us: ordinary objects that bring us to such moment or experience by pointing to it and somehow making it present once again to us. These signs or symbols transform ordinary time, ordinary space, and ordinary meaning into sacred time, sacred space, and sacred meaning (Mircea Eliade). At this point an example might be in order:

You are in a restaurant or mall and suddenly you hear a familiar song being played in the background. The song is your favourite (what is it for you?). Suddenly you tell yourself “it is our theme song”. By “our” you are actually referring to a “special someone”.  At this point the song or music is a sign (it points to a particular event, person or experience) until you start “to lose awareness or consciousness” of your present time, space and meaning and the people with you and somewhat begin to be “transported back” to that moment in time where you are with that special someone, enjoying his/her company, laughter, jokes and sharing of life’s tidbits, of experiences. Now the music has become a symbol (it makes you be present to the experience or making the experience present to you again). You continue to linger with the song until you are “re-awakened” by a strong tap on your shoulder or your elbow being shaken by a friend, asking what is happening to you because they seem to have lost you in the group. And you simply smile; you are inspired and renewed by that short, flash experience of sacred time, sacred space, and sacred meaning, and say “I’m fine. I’m okay. What is that again?” The smile now replaced by a big, wide grin.

 Who knows how long such a grin will remain in your face and lips. Who knows how long you will remain inspired and renewed. But such is the power of remembering or anamnesis – something or someone is remembered by reliving it or him/her. Anamnesis not only evokes the experience of the past but also continue to affect, influence, and inspire the future. In life we do a lot of remembering. That is part of being human. WE REMEMBER.

The opposite of anamnesis is amnesia or forgetfulness or the refusal to remember.  There are many reasons for amnesia – it can be medical or physiological condition, or an unconscious or unaware tendency not to remember the past, particularly the saddest or painful ones. Amnesia is also a disposition in life of not seeking the value or worth of things, people or events that happen to us. We just live the day with no meaning or significance, and nothing affects us or that will disturb us.  In anamnesis however, we decide to give meanings to things and people that affect us.  They become part of our memory not simply of the past but the memory say something about our present life and it points to some more meanings about the future. 

2.       We Believe

Such objects or items that you consider “cherished or prized possessions” are treated as such by you because they are linked to experiences that you consider sacred, i.e. important, meaningful and mysterious in (your) life.  Joseph Martos calls such experiences “key-experiences of life”. The following as key experiences we all share in life: birth (newness or renewal of life); adulthood, love, friendship, community; human frailty, weakness, sin, and forgiveness and reconciliation; sickness, near-death experience, care and compassion for others; commitment and fidelity to family; courage, risk-taking and fidelity and loyalty to one’s (role in) society; and death, justice and hope.  They are called “key-experiences” because they open up to us deeper meanings in life and influence the meaning we give to all our other experiences. Tad Guzie calls such experiences “lived-experiences” which for him are “the rhythm that makes life human”.  It is what human life is all about.  It is by focussing on such experiences that we discover gradually the meaning and depth of our true and full humanity.

We treasure our “lived experiences” or “key experiences” because deep down within us we know that this is what it means for us to be truly and fully human: to live a life of love, friendship and community; a life of forgiveness and reconciliation, care and compassion, commitment and fidelity, courage and risk-taking, fidelity and loyalty, justice and hope. To focus on them and to treasure anything (signs and symbols) that allow us to get in touch with these realities is for us to believe that after all life is not in vain. Together we can disagree with the writer of the book of Sirac/Qoheleth when s/he writes “Vanity of vanities; and everything in life is vanity.”(Ecc.1:2) and proclaim that life has a deeper and richer meaning unfolding itself in our experiences. That is what we believe. That is why WE BELIEVE.

3.       We Celebrate

Can you imagine what will happen the moment we forget what it means to be truly and fully human? What happens when those items that you consider cherished or prized possessions no longer mean anything to you? Because you can no longer recall or remember the people, story, event, experience associated or link with those items/objects?  What will happen when we can no longer recall or remember those experiences that make us truly and fully human; and when sign and symbols no longer point to or make present experiences that inspire and renew us to live as one? What happens if all humanity suffers from a kind of massive “Humanity-Amnesia”, or massive “Humanity-Alzheimer’s Disease”?  

The National Institute of Aging of the US reports that symptoms of Alzheimer may include increase memory loss and confusion; problem with one’s own identity and role, and that of others; problem recognizing even family and friends; inability to learn new things; confusion with time or place, changes in mood and personality, among others. Life would be in chaos. Everyone is confused; no meaningful past, no meaningful present and no meaningful future. We simply do not know what to do. We simply will not know how to live; and much more to live as truly and fully human beings!

The good news is that we humans have a way of ensuring that we do not forget especially those experiences that are valuable or important to us. We not only engage in remembering. We engage in re-telling. We share with others in the community. In other words, we celebrate. The simplest way of sharing is through simple story-telling. Through the simple story-telling process we allow people to enter and be part of our experience and we in turn allow our experience, our story, to enter their own experience, their own life.  

As a result the experience or story “grows”. It acquires greater depth, more meaning and significance. That’s what happen for example when you had your first date with your “crush” and everything turns out well. You cannot wait to be back home so that you can call and tell your best friend the most beautiful and exhilarating “story or experience” of your life. The date lasted only for a few minutes or for two hours but the story telling goes on until the early morning hours of the following day, around six to seven hours and without sleep.

 But sometimes mere story-telling is not enough. It is better if the sharing takes place with as many people as possible with whom you share some affinity or connection.  And even much better if the whole community is involve. This is true especially if the experience falls under what we have mentioned before as “key-experiences” or “lived-experiences.” In some instances, the experience is so charged with meaning and so overwhelming that we cannot “handle” it alone and somehow we want to share it to the whole world.

Birth is one example of such experience. Do I simply engage in simple story-telling during my birthday? Do I simply tell the story of what happen when I was born? Do I simply do the story-telling every year; year in and year out?  The same is true for example with anniversaries; or lifetime commitment of love for a person; or even death and mourning. Do we simply tell the story year in and year out? I think you will agree that something more is required?

It is here that the value of ritual-celebration comes into the picture. Different signs and symbols can be combined together to form an elaborate and intricate ritual for the purpose of celebration. A good example of a ritual-celebration is a birthday party. There you encounter different signs and symbols: balloons, cake, drinks, food, people, gifts, greetings, singing, etc.. They all form an elaborate and intricate ritual for the purpose of celebration. Of course the more we understand the signs and symbols and their meaning in the celebration, the more we can understand and appreciate the meaning of what is celebrated.

George Worgul defines celebration “as moments of focusing our minds and our hearts, our total being to the reality or experience of our humanity.”  They are moments of invitation to get hold of ourselves and experience in a kind of “moment of truth” the depth and reality of human life in the company and presence of others. The communal celebrations enable us to have a communal interpretation of the experience, adding depths and richness to our understanding of the particular event or experience. In the process humanity is transformed; the individual and the community are provided with a deeper understanding and appreciation of the meaning involved in the particular event or experience. Most often, even after the celebration is over, the celebration-experience continues to affect us.

We want our (key-) experience to reveal more, to unfold more meaning and depth in relation to our life, our humanity. After all, meaning grows, deepens, unfolds, develop. Humans do not want to forget. But Humans do not simply want to remember. Humans need and want to celebrate. That is why WE CELEBRATE.  When we celebrate, we remember by believing in things that matter most to us as persons and as a community.  For example, birthday parties are celebrations that cherish the life of the celebrant, his or her past and present life, and the belief that he or she is important also in our life.  We celebrate friendship, love, and care.                                                      

4.       We love (We live)

“Madali ang maging tao. Mahirap ang magpakatao.” Remember this Filipino proverb we encountered in our Theology 2 class? Do you still remember what it means?

Although everything we do can be considered human activity, simply because they are done by humans, there are some actions however that can be considered more fully and distinctively human. These are the actions that raise the whole of our life or existence on the level of the genuinely human; they are actions/habits that makes us truly and fully human if and when we live by them. Just to mention some of them once again: hospitality and gratitude, prudence and temperance, self-care and integrity, fidelity and mutuality, temperance and risk-taking, reconciling/forgiving and compassion/mercy, and finally,  justice, courage and hope.

In Theology 2 they were called virtues or virtuous actions, good habits, habits of being human, habits of the heart. In this lesson they were seen deeply embedded or attached to certain events or experiences (key-experiences or lived-experiences) as their deepest and most profound meaning. They make us want to remember, to believe, to celebrate. They are what are truly and fully human in life inviting us and challenging us to live the very same meaning and depth we so earnestly seek and wish to understand.

How else can we show our understanding and appreciation of these meanings and depth of human life except by making them realities in ourselves, in our relationship, in our community, and in our world? The best way to show what we consider really valuable and meaningful so much so that we want or need to remember, believe, celebrate is by making them our way of life, our life, living according to them.

We not only remember, believe, celebrate. We live according to what we remember, believe, celebrate. But what is the core of every true human value or virtue? Donald De Marco believes that it is LOVE.  James Keenan calls it Charity, the mother of all virtues. As such, virtues are concerned more with the interior life than the external act; virtues are more concerned with the heart than with the head.  Love brings together in a carefully balance way all the moral/human values. In the Letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes: (1Cor 13:1-8)

“If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own, and if I handed my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous,  it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interest, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrong doing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endure all things.  

Love never fails.

We have to live according to what we remember, believes, celebrate. That means WE LOVE.

Let us “ACT”/ PRAY

            Ritual-Celebration

The group’s task is to think of a way how they can express in signs and symbols (rituals) their experience of God’s love and presence in their life. The can go around or outside the room to look for any materials they need. Tell them they only have 5-10mins to present their ritual-celebration (Give them 15mins to prepare)

A.      Group Presentation

Each group will be given only 5-10mins for group presentation.

Advice the other groups to maintain silence and to pay close attention to what is going on.

B.       After all groups have done their presentation ask the class for comments or feedbacks.

Tell them that their comments or feedback should be related to what is learned in class especially the discern part.

C.      Conclude the class session with a prayer offering the different group’s ritual- celebration to God and asking God to accept the class offering.

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