By Jim Critcher
Some years ago I attended a master class with the great flamenco guitarist, Paco Pena. (And it is flamenco, not flamingo! The latter is that plastic pink bird who stands on one foot decorating the finest lawns in America.) What he and his family were there to demonstrate extended far beyond guitar playing. Those of us privileged to be in that class witnessed a cultural, holistic expression that included rhythm, song, story, dance, and percussion - all perfectly synchronized yet spontaneously improvised within an ancient system of compositional "rules".
The questions that came afterward from the students all fixated on the rules and techniques. Can they be learned and subsequently mastered. Someone asked the question, "How can we learn this?" And Paco’s answer, ”You can't. This cannot be learned." Stunned silence. Palpable frustration.
The notion that we cannot learn something is offensive. Come on, we live in the Golden Age of Knowledge. Facts are as easily obtained as an Internet connection. Yet learning the facts about a thing doesn’t mean we really truly know anything about it. The search engine, with its never-ending wellspring of facts, has produced a culture that often confuses true learning with ready access to facts. A collection of facts or techniques does not magically yield mastery or understanding. This is what Paco Pena was trying to impart, not just demonstrate through technique.
Those who want to learn the flamenco tradition, and not just a few chords or rhythmic patterns, move to Spain. They learn the spoken language, absorb the culture, eat the food, learn the regional history and become something they previously were not. They exchange one culture for another. This requires being in intimate proximity to the source of something authentic, something genuine, rather than a copy or an echo of the original.
Jesus said it this way, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me.” (Matthew 11:29a). Many have learned facts about God, accurate facts. Yet those same facts can often be impersonal, distant. Few have learned of Him. The difference is the proximity of being yoked with Him, between what we know and what we become. One is relatively easy. Knowledge comes quickly. Becoming is a slow process and involves significant change. If we are to become that which captures and compels us, mere factual knowledge will not get us there. Intimacy through proximity will.