The Power of Symbol
The Confederate battle flag that first flew atop South Carolina’s Capitol dome in 1961 and was later moved to the grounds of the Statehouse is now part of the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. Just over a week ago, it was taken down after state legislators voted to remove it. From the intense debate over the Confederate flag, we can learn a lot about symbols. Number one, symbols are powerful. Though it has been 150 years since the end of the Civil War, which gave rise to the Confederate battle flag, the controversy surrounding that flag is as strong and as passionate as ever. Second, symbols have many meanings. Some see the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of the South. Others see it as a sign of racism. Third, the meaning a symbol conveys typically depends on our experience with that symbol. For some whites, whose ancestors fought in the Civil War, the Confederate battle flag represents heritage and pride. But for most blacks, the flag represents slavery and oppression.
In a similar way, we can attribute the same characteristics to our liturgical symbols. Our liturgical symbols too are powerful. Emotions are stirred by the healing touch of hands during the anointing of the sick. Tears of joy flow when water is poured over an infant during baptism. Liturgical symbols too have multiple meanings. The cross, for example, is primarily seen by some people as a symbol of suffering and pain. But others view the cross as a sign of resurrection and hope. The meaning of our liturgical symbols also typically depends on our experience with that symbol. If we have primarily experienced water as cleansing and life-giving, then we will see the water of baptism in the same way. If we have primarily experienced water as death-inducing, then we will likely view baptism in that way.
Liturgical symbols are signs of the sacred. They point beyond their ordinary nature to the divine. Liturgical symbols help us to see and to hear and to touch, even if only momentarily, the mystery of God.
