Metaphorical Log jam

In the Pacific northwest, loggers float their product down from the high forests on the rivers that run through the countryside. On occasion, there is a big log jam and everything stops. Clearing the flow requires teasing out each individual log much like a game of "pick-up sticks." The formative task in theology can by seen in much the same way - in our congregations, we often have spiritual log jams on our corporate river of consciousness. Images collide and pile on top of each other - metaphors are often mixed leading to the repetition of words and pictures whose meaning has been lost - to open up the spirituality freighted by our religious meatphiors, we have to tease each one out separately - see the differences, the contradictions, the sheer wonder of our religious language - and then maybe the spirit can flow!