Sunday musings - October 8, 2023
It is the nature of those involved in or running organizations or institutions to fall into the trap of replacing the original mission or purpose with the goal of ensuring the ongoing existence of the institution. IBM might be an example of a business which would not adopt to evolving technology.
The purpose of religious institutions is to gather people together to worship as a community the God of their understanding and to explore what it might mean to be the person and community that serves that God. That God may be the Old Testament Jewish God, the Christian Trinity of God, Mohammed, Krishna, a group of gods or some other deity or higher being. With some religious institutions the goal is to bring together a group of people who believe in various Gods or none. Such is the case with the Unitarian Universalist Church.
Religious institutions eventually include buildings, organizational structures, rules for how to function together, and even dogma which outlines the parameters which distinguish that institution from others. The institution or organization can become the focus of the efforts of those involved. The building, staff, and the budget to maintain the organization or institution consumes more and more of the effort of the members. To justify this effort, one must reinforce the “fact” that this institution or organization provides a unique service or dogma. With religious institutions the God of one’s understanding becomes “the God”. Typically, there are a set of beliefs or behaviors which this God or Gods demands/requires. There are also creeds to which members must agree or pledge themselves. The god of one’s understanding is contained only within this institution, and it’s set of beliefs. It is “the God” and not the God of one’s understanding.
One’s church may not involve any god or gods but can become any community which both nurtures one and, if not careful, limits one just as much as a religious institution. When any institution begins to define the members, they can seem to cease to exist outside of that organization or institution. A golfing or other sports community, an educational or arts organization, a political group, a career, a civic organization, or a club can become one’s church. Within that “church” is a set of behaviors and beliefs to which one is expected to adhere. Any relationship or commitment which conflicts with the beliefs and demands of the organization or institution must be rejected or at least forced to accept a lesser status in the life of that individual.
In Buddhist terms this sort of attachment might be termed shenpa. Shenpa becomes the box which contains and defines one. Obviously, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that box. It is the attachment which precedes one’s death.
Some institutions or organizations do manage to evolve with the times. When the product or service they provide is no longer needed they can offer a new product or service. This often happens in times of national need such as wartime but also can happen in peacetime. Typewriter manufactures could switch to computers. Companies which manufactured the original computers which occupied entire floors of buildings could begin to manufacture the office or personal computer. Switchboards manufactures which once directed telephone calls could have become the modern phone manufactures. The combustible engine manufacturers are retooling to manufacture electric vehicles. Religious institutions, however, because they often involve Gods or deities who may have been assigned the job of creating and running the universes, continue to resist change. They promote beliefs and dogma which science has long disproved. Some may attempt to “change with the times” but they seldom reclaim their commitment to a god of their understanding but cling to “the god”. They seem unable to retool’; to make or promote a new product or service. Thus, many are becoming obsolete and are dying.
We can see the same dynamic unfolding in political organizations. Some desperately hold on to “Make America Great Again” when in fact the United States was never great for a significant segment of the population. Racism, sexism, elitism, inequality, inequity, and homophobia defined the life of many of the citizens of the United States.
The solution is to let go of shenpa or attachment to the idea, institution/organization. We need not be fearful of their death. Just as seasons are necessary for new life to emerge, death of ideas, institutions, organizations and gods precede new life, new ideas and new relationships. We must always be prepared to let go of our attachment to a way of thinking and to organizations and institutions. We must he ready to let go of our attachment to the God of our former understanding; to make room for new life and possibilities to be birthed. Failure to let go of our attachment - of our identification with that to which we are attached - will ensure that we too cease to exist.
Written October 8, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
It is the nature of those involved in or running organizations or institutions to fall into the trap of replacing the original mission or purpose with the goal of ensuring the ongoing existence of the institution. IBM might be an example of a business which would not adopt to evolving technology.
The purpose of religious institutions is to gather people together to worship as a community the God of their understanding and to explore what it might mean to be the person and community that serves that God. That God may be the Old Testament Jewish God, the Christian Trinity of God, Mohammed, Krishna, a group of gods or some other deity or higher being. With some religious institutions the goal is to bring together a group of people who believe in various Gods or none. Such is the case with the Unitarian Universalist Church.
Religious institutions eventually include buildings, organizational structures, rules for how to function together, and even dogma which outlines the parameters which distinguish that institution from others. The institution or organization can become the focus of the efforts of those involved. The building, staff, and the budget to maintain the organization or institution consumes more and more of the effort of the members. To justify this effort, one must reinforce the “fact” that this institution or organization provides a unique service or dogma. With religious institutions the God of one’s understanding becomes “the God”. Typically, there are a set of beliefs or behaviors which this God or Gods demands/requires. There are also creeds to which members must agree or pledge themselves. The god of one’s understanding is contained only within this institution, and it’s set of beliefs. It is “the God” and not the God of one’s understanding.
One’s church may not involve any god or gods but can become any community which both nurtures one and, if not careful, limits one just as much as a religious institution. When any institution begins to define the members, they can seem to cease to exist outside of that organization or institution. A golfing or other sports community, an educational or arts organization, a political group, a career, a civic organization, or a club can become one’s church. Within that “church” is a set of behaviors and beliefs to which one is expected to adhere. Any relationship or commitment which conflicts with the beliefs and demands of the organization or institution must be rejected or at least forced to accept a lesser status in the life of that individual.
In Buddhist terms this sort of attachment might be termed shenpa. Shenpa becomes the box which contains and defines one. Obviously, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that box. It is the attachment which precedes one’s death.
Some institutions or organizations do manage to evolve with the times. When the product or service they provide is no longer needed they can offer a new product or service. This often happens in times of national need such as wartime but also can happen in peacetime. Typewriter manufactures could switch to computers. Companies which manufactured the original computers which occupied entire floors of buildings could begin to manufacture the office or personal computer. Switchboards manufactures which once directed telephone calls could have become the modern phone manufactures. The combustible engine manufacturers are retooling to manufacture electric vehicles. Religious institutions, however, because they often involve Gods or deities who may have been assigned the job of creating and running the universes, continue to resist change. They promote beliefs and dogma which science has long disproved. Some may attempt to “change with the times” but they seldom reclaim their commitment to a god of their understanding but cling to “the god”. They seem unable to retool’; to make or promote a new product or service. Thus, many are becoming obsolete and are dying.
We can see the same dynamic unfolding in political organizations. Some desperately hold on to “Make America Great Again” when in fact the United States was never great for a significant segment of the population. Racism, sexism, elitism, inequality, inequity, and homophobia defined the life of many of the citizens of the United States.
The solution is to let go of shenpa or attachment to the idea, institution/organization. We need not be fearful of their death. Just as seasons are necessary for new life to emerge, death of ideas, institutions, organizations and gods precede new life, new ideas and new relationships. We must always be prepared to let go of our attachment to a way of thinking and to organizations and institutions. We must he ready to let go of our attachment to the God of our former understanding; to make room for new life and possibilities to be birthed. Failure to let go of our attachment - of our identification with that to which we are attached - will ensure that we too cease to exist.
Written October 8, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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