ARHIVELE OLTENIEI - Universitatea din Craiova

168Carmen Popescu“arbitrary noise” 10 . Taking language seriously means going beyond theinformative level, to a “level of communion, of living.” 11 The word understoodas communion, as life sums up the theology of the word in its variousmanifestations. In his book, The Words of Christ, Michel Henry 12 approaches thetopic from the viewpoint of the phenomenology of life. Indeed, life is whatChrist promised to those who would listen to him and observe hiscommandments. And not life towards death, as viewed by existentialism, butlife eternal. Another approach very much focused on life revealed in thesacraments of the Orthodox Church is that of Alexander Schmemann 13 . FatherSophronie also used to say that we come to live God`s word as light 14 . Similarly,a strong association between God`s word and light can be find in DumitruStaniloae`s works 15 . Of course, Christ`s words can be really shocking for some.“I am the living bread which has come down out of heaven: if any one shall haveeaten of this bread he shall live for ever; but the bread withal which I shall giveis my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews thereforecontended among themselves, saying: How can he give us his flesh to eat?”(John 6, 51-53). At this point many disciples left him: “This word is hard; whocan hear it?” (John 6, 61). God`s discourse is also self-referential ormetalinguistic: it explains itself, though someone might say the explanation iseven more difficult. And it is, as long as you are not prepared to receive it,through repentance, metanoia (“the change of the mind”): “It is the Spirit whichquickens, the flesh profits nothing: the words which I have spoken unto you arespirit and are life.” (John 6, 63). When the Lord asked the twelve if they wouldalso go away, Simon Peter answered: “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hastwords of life eternal.” (John 6, 69).It seems reasonable to look at prayer at the ultimate form ofcommunication/communion. Prayer could be also “studied” as a ritual, a seriesof symbolic gestures joined to a “text”, which can be pre-written or original andspontaneous. (Gabriel Bunge 16 designed, so to say, a sort of patristic code forprayer). Prayer is personal but also communal, liturgical. The latter is generallyconsidered to be the most powerful, certainly because in this community -context, communication is truly and literally communion. “For where two orthree are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Matthew 18, 20).Therefore, everything, in the Orthodox Church is in fact not about secrecy and10 Ibidem.11 Ibidem.12 Michel Henry, Paroles du Christ, Paris, Editions du Seuil, 2002.13 Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World. Sacraments and Orthodoxy, SaintVladimir`s Seminary Press, 1973.14 Cf. Rafail Noica, op.cit., p. 69.15 Dumitru Stăniloae, Iisus Hristos, lumina lumii şi îndumnezeitorul omului, Bucureşti,Editura Anastasia, 1993. One chapter is called The Light and the Word (Lumina şi cuvântul),p. 33-44.16 Gabriel Bunge, Earthen Vessels: The Practice of Personal Prayer According to thePatristic Tradition, translated by Michael J.Miller, San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2002.