FEEEE HE HE HEEEEEEENEEEEY...I miss TGIF

SYMBOLISM
1. The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships (thank you freedictionary.com)


          This was a term that became one of my best friends in college; I loved looking for the symbolism in everything I read and wrote about! I’m sure my professors loved my endless papers about the symbolism any given author alluded to with his or her use of imagery in the form of light, objects, words, and so on (if you let me I bet I would look for the symbolism in everything from the movie Elf to Boy Meets World…I mean come on Mr. Feeny is a clear symbol of our conscience and desire for human wisdom in concrete form…okay okay, moving on…). I just really believe to get to the emotional essence of a piece of writing it is essential to look for symbolism. It is just so beautiful the way an author can weave together words to create a much deeper connotation than what is on the surface. Oh and wouldn’t you know it…another literary term has crept into my writing. “Connotation” goes beyond the dictionary definition of a word, but goes deeper to what is implied and gets to the emotional meaning that is associated, thus going full circle back to symbolism. The connotation goes beyond the surface. Symbolism goes beyond the surface.

          Isn’t that a great analogy for life? We have this amazing author who has woven together various people, situations, and events into our lives and if we could just look past the surface, we would see how clearly God is moving and working in our lives. Oftentimes we only look at the denotation (literal meaning; a.k.a. the surface definition) of a person and never take the time to really try to see them; to look for the connotation of that person. We never look for the symbolism of life. Perhaps that small instance in your life that you never took the time to look deeper into was God trying to get your attention. God uses symbolism all over the place…I mean come on now…Noah and the rainbow, now if that isn’t a clear symbol of the hope and promises that he has for us, I don’t know what is. I am going to challenge myself to look deeper into the ways that God is speaking, so that I can live past the surface of life; so that he will use me as a symbol of his unconditional mercy, grace, and love to allow his light to shine through me, for him, all of my days.


"Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions." Psalm 119:18