I often present in Japan, China and Korea. The scientists and engineers there are very intelligent and gracious, listening carefully to my English. It helps to have a translator with me but I don’t always have that luxury. As a result, I alter my presentations to remove most of the words and replace them with pictures and symbols. This enables a meaningful exchange of ideas.
In the Symbolist Manifesto, the poet Jean Moréas wrote that the goal of symbolism was to “clothe the Ideal in a perceptible form.” That’s what I was doing with my presentations.
So how do I discuss Jesus or the Holy Spirit with a Christian in China who has very limited English? (My Mandarin is horrible.) I do what Luther did: I draw a Cross or a Dove in the center of a heart, my Heart. Bingo, the light bulbs turn on and the dialog (drawing and gestures) begins.
Christian Symbols are a language we share with Christians here in the U.S. and throughout the world. They are timeless. I can look at Christian Art and Architecture created 500 years ago by someone who didn’t speak English, and yet I understand their statements of faith at a deep level. The image and the associated concepts quickly register in my mind and stay with me.
We will learn more about Christian Symbolism by breaking out Luther’s Mandala and then look at Christian Mandalas that have been embedded into Christian Art and Architecture for hundreds of years starting with Stanford’s Memorial Church and later moving to the European Gothic Cathedrals.