I once witnessed a theatre director giving notes to a cast of actors preparing to perform on stage. She said to them: \u201cImagine, just before you go on, that you\u2019ve forgotten all your lines, forgotten the whole play, forgotten all the work you\u2019ve put into rehearsals and preparation. Forget it all, and then step into the light, into the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But forgetting presupposes the memory you are to forget. For the actor, the truth of their performance arises out of this process of remembering and forgetting. And then you step into the light, into the story. . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want to say this is truth reclaimed for meaning<\/em>, truth as<\/em> meaning. In John\u2019s Gospel, Jesus says: \u201cFor this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice\u201d (18.37) So, the actor\u2019s truth and the Christian\u2019s truth are alike in this respect: it is something we come to belong to<\/em>; it is how we live our part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than the truth being raw, or coherent with other truth statements, or somehow correspondent with reality out there, the truth is a memory of an encounter with meaning, something to which we can belong and which re-members us in turn. In short, it\u2019s personal. More, it\u2019s a Person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether or not you try to record this truth on paper is ultimately immaterial. But you must record<\/em> it in your heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> \u2018The love we share at Christmas is a refuge. It replenishes our depleted batteries and allows us to go out again into the world\u2019: The 2023 Country Life Christmas message, by Revd Colin Heber-Percy https:\/\/t.co\/Vedsc9ywQX<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/97trNbTmlt<\/a><\/p>— Country Life (@Countrylifemag) December 25, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>