Information ::
In-Formation :: Formation
Information, processed, leads
to the formation of ideas and attitudes.
A piece of information can be understood as a
“thing”, an objective fact which can stand by itself. All pieces of
information can be seen in this way.
Nevertheless, what we are really
understanding is our perception of the “thing” out
there. The way we perceive a thing determines what we think it is. No two
people see any one thing in exactly the same way. No other person has my eyes,
ears, or the other senses which enable me to register the presence of something
other than myself. No other person has my nervous system and brain which
process the stimuli coming from my senses. It is my interpretation of my
perception that is the reality for me.
Yet we are social beings. There is also a community
perception of things. When, through respectful listening and dialogue, we share
our perceptions of things we develop a common understanding of things. We also
come to share a common interpretation of the meaning certain things can have
for us.
The things that we dialogue about take on a form or
a pattern for all those involved in the dialogue. The commonly perceived and
discussed things become in-formed, formed into common knowledge for those
involved in the process.
This coming together of information, through
communication, generates knowledge, wisdom, energy, growth and life.
The life of any living organism provides an
illustration which, by analogy, can shed light on the process.
A living organism has a distinctive identity which
is determined more by its DNA than by its constitutive elements. Through its
own lines of communication, the DNA provides a pattern into which substances
are incorporated, or in-formed, in a distinctive way. DNA has a communication
function: allowing its organism to exchange messages, ensuring the organised
maintenance and growth (and death) of the organism.
Over a period of time all the physical parts of the
human body are replaced. Yet because of the DNA, the organising communication
principle, which every living being has, a human body retains its distinct
identity.
It is said that the outer skin of a living human
body is renewed every four weeks, the liver changes every six and 98 per cent
of all the cells in the human body are new every year. Growing old is built
into the DNA communication program, so even when the skin of a 90 year old is
replaced, it is “90-year-old” skin, for this person, complete with
distinctive personal characteristics, according to the DNA program.
The church community is like a human body which has
an internal organising principle, which programs the body of the Church never
to grow old, because it is also the Body of the risen Jesus Christ. The
organising principle is the Holy Spirit, a gift of God, which comes to the
world and to the Church in a whole host of ways and is also manifested in
prayerful dialogue.
Parts of the Church can fall away, when those parts
lose their connection with the organising principle – the Holy Spirit.
Other parts heal and grow as they are open to the Holy Spirit.
When the church community comes together in
prayerful, reciprocating dialogue, it creates the conditions for the Holy
Spirit to be effective in renewing the Body of the Church community, giving it
energy and enthusiasm and allowing it to grow and respond effectively and
creatively to the changing conditions in which it lives.
Prayerful, reciprocating dialogue is a key to new
life in the church community. How well is it working in your church community?