Proverbs 31:8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute"
"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality." Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. A powerful quote from one of the most important spiritual figures of the recent past. I read this quote and this proverb and get all energized, but then I see the towering forces of individualism that have been shaping our minds for a couple centuries, and they are in conflict.
In an individualistic world, we are not affected by the things that happen to other people. We look out for ourselves, and assume that if everyone looks out for their own good that we will all get better together. What this pastor tells us, confirmed in the words of the Proverbs, is that individualism flies in the face of reality and therefore God's ways.
What if I read the news and instead of looking at what affected me, assumed everything affected me? Would that change the way I view the world? I wonder how I might be changed if I believed that I will never be who I ought to be until you are who you ought to be. Would that change how I spend my time? Let's not let these questions be rhetorical, I would love to hear what you have to say.
The "Eastern" thoughtform has always been corporate as contrasted by the "Western" I can go it alone mentality. When we read the gospels, the emphasis is toward the community and not just the individual. How did the West get so far off track? Are we just that selfish? I think I'm asking myself that question!
ReplyDeletewow!!"until you are who you ought to be". I had never thought of it that way. God forgive my "ungrace" D.Z.
ReplyDelete@Jan,
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think we got off track when we decided that everything real was tangible. During the Enlightenment, when even Christians denied the supernatural in our world, we started to build a worldview that was self-determination (pull yourself up by your bootstraps). All you need to succeed is the will to power. This has starved the Western world of community, and we have found all sorts of substitutes for true community that have been found lacking. But I sense a movement of God in the Western world that is going to find true community again. At least, I hope that's a movement of God.
- Andy