Sunday Musings - April 21, 2024
Excel spread sheet.
Regardless of our philosophical, religious, or cultural background we humans hurt each other and Mother Earth. Religious leaders often term such action as sin. Despite the profession of many in religious groups that “we have all sinned and fallen short the glory of God” (the god of one’s understanding/belief) religious groups keep what amounts to an excel spreadsheet of hurtful actions. This spreadsheet includes a set of criteria for deciding the points for each type of way we hurt each other, ourselves, or mother earth. Such a list of criteria must detail the setting for each wrong. For example, to kill when authorized to do so by a government body such as the state ordering executions or when a member of one of the many Federal military or law enforcement groups, one might be honored or decorated as a hero for killing another human. In various cultures to have a loving, sexual relationship with someone of the same sex may be celebrated or condemned. In some cultures, elders introduce children to sexual activity. In others elders who have sex with children are assigned many sin points. To take what is claimed as property by another can be considered a grave sin. In other situations, it is considered the spoils of war. To use more than one’s share of resources might be a symbol of a successful person or it might symbolize greed and be worthy of being punished.
To pretend one is offering a safe product might gain the approval of some community organizations. To cheat or to lie about one’s product might in other situations win one many sins points. To show one genitals in public if one is of a certain age might be worthy of punishments unless one is in an approved nudist setting or if one is high fashion enough to show off 99% certain parts of one’s body.
One can list many examples of the apparent contradictory rules for maintaining the excel sin sheet for each of us. Yet, many of us might deny that we maintain such sheets or that the point system is arbitrary and dependent on religious frameworks, cultural beliefs or the opinions of some others who have a position of power, That power might be the results of an assigned position in the community or the result of someone who has time and energy to wag their lips in person or on such platforms as social media.
I strongly suspect we need to:
o Admit that our list and criteria for sin points are often very arbitrary.
o Be aware our behavior is on someone’s excel spreadsheet.
o Remember the wisdom of judge not less one be judged.
o Forgiveness = acceptance of the humanness of self and others.
o Hurt people hurt each other. We can change that pattern by listening and seeing beneath the surface of all of us.
o Justice has many faces. One of them is restorative.
Increasingly we can identify and understand some of factors which affect the ability to have or fail to have a shared reality: those factors which affect the ability to consider the needs and rights of others. We need to think less in terms of “sin” and more about how and when to lovingly restrain one of us from seriously hurting self, others, and Mother Earth. Even when it is obvious that a person is a danger to self or others it would behoove us to approach the issue of safety with love and empathy. When our own children do something which is harmful physically or emotionally, we “see” that innocent child we first held after its birth. I believe we need to see that innocent child in all of us no matter the nature of our behavior.
There is much we do not know about the operation of the human mind and resulting behavior. We do know love and respect is more effective than viewing and treating someone as bad, evil, or otherwise undeserving of love.
I recently saw the play “Fat Ham” by James Ijames at City Theater in Pittsburgh. The writer did an amazing job of reminding the viewer or all of us are more or less than what we see or hear when experiencing the “outside” persona or costume.
In this season of spring where I live, I am constantly reminded of the magic of seeds and bulbs which in and of themselves are not very attractive or interesting. Yet, they contain the ability to create magic and beauty. What if we could view each other with the same possibility? We all contain the possibility of beauty and magic. Yes, we are human and, by definition, less than perfect. We are also much more than what might be recorded as sin points on an excel spread sheet.
Written April 21, 2024
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Excel spread sheet.
Regardless of our philosophical, religious, or cultural background we humans hurt each other and Mother Earth. Religious leaders often term such action as sin. Despite the profession of many in religious groups that “we have all sinned and fallen short the glory of God” (the god of one’s understanding/belief) religious groups keep what amounts to an excel spreadsheet of hurtful actions. This spreadsheet includes a set of criteria for deciding the points for each type of way we hurt each other, ourselves, or mother earth. Such a list of criteria must detail the setting for each wrong. For example, to kill when authorized to do so by a government body such as the state ordering executions or when a member of one of the many Federal military or law enforcement groups, one might be honored or decorated as a hero for killing another human. In various cultures to have a loving, sexual relationship with someone of the same sex may be celebrated or condemned. In some cultures, elders introduce children to sexual activity. In others elders who have sex with children are assigned many sin points. To take what is claimed as property by another can be considered a grave sin. In other situations, it is considered the spoils of war. To use more than one’s share of resources might be a symbol of a successful person or it might symbolize greed and be worthy of being punished.
To pretend one is offering a safe product might gain the approval of some community organizations. To cheat or to lie about one’s product might in other situations win one many sins points. To show one genitals in public if one is of a certain age might be worthy of punishments unless one is in an approved nudist setting or if one is high fashion enough to show off 99% certain parts of one’s body.
One can list many examples of the apparent contradictory rules for maintaining the excel sin sheet for each of us. Yet, many of us might deny that we maintain such sheets or that the point system is arbitrary and dependent on religious frameworks, cultural beliefs or the opinions of some others who have a position of power, That power might be the results of an assigned position in the community or the result of someone who has time and energy to wag their lips in person or on such platforms as social media.
I strongly suspect we need to:
o Admit that our list and criteria for sin points are often very arbitrary.
o Be aware our behavior is on someone’s excel spreadsheet.
o Remember the wisdom of judge not less one be judged.
o Forgiveness = acceptance of the humanness of self and others.
o Hurt people hurt each other. We can change that pattern by listening and seeing beneath the surface of all of us.
o Justice has many faces. One of them is restorative.
Increasingly we can identify and understand some of factors which affect the ability to have or fail to have a shared reality: those factors which affect the ability to consider the needs and rights of others. We need to think less in terms of “sin” and more about how and when to lovingly restrain one of us from seriously hurting self, others, and Mother Earth. Even when it is obvious that a person is a danger to self or others it would behoove us to approach the issue of safety with love and empathy. When our own children do something which is harmful physically or emotionally, we “see” that innocent child we first held after its birth. I believe we need to see that innocent child in all of us no matter the nature of our behavior.
There is much we do not know about the operation of the human mind and resulting behavior. We do know love and respect is more effective than viewing and treating someone as bad, evil, or otherwise undeserving of love.
I recently saw the play “Fat Ham” by James Ijames at City Theater in Pittsburgh. The writer did an amazing job of reminding the viewer or all of us are more or less than what we see or hear when experiencing the “outside” persona or costume.
In this season of spring where I live, I am constantly reminded of the magic of seeds and bulbs which in and of themselves are not very attractive or interesting. Yet, they contain the ability to create magic and beauty. What if we could view each other with the same possibility? We all contain the possibility of beauty and magic. Yes, we are human and, by definition, less than perfect. We are also much more than what might be recorded as sin points on an excel spread sheet.
Written April 21, 2024
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
RSS Feed