Faith as prose and poetry

In The Cloister Walk (p.61), Kathleen Norris quotes liturgical scholar Gail Ramshaw:

“If faith is about facts, then we line up the children and make them memorize questions and answers. But if we are dealing with poetry instead of prose the we do not teach answers to questions. We memorize not answers but the chants of the ordinary; we explain liturgical action, we immerse people in worship so that they, too, become part of the metaphoric exchange.”

Of course faith is both prose and poetry. Catechesis is very good, but it is only a part. That is why baptism and the receiving of the Lord’s supper don’t involve any talking on the part of the partaker. There is nothing to say; nothing to answer to. You get wet. You eat.

Worship is of the same sort I believe – it is more metaphor than logic. It is muddled when too many words are used or when too many propositional ducks need to be in a row before it can take place. The word for “worship” in all the old languages just meant “to bow”. That is enough. When we participate in that way, we become part of God’s new world.