Lets say "Grace"!!!

If there is such a thing as the "invisible hand", I would think it's the aggressiveness of evil as compared to virtue. Good people do not aggressively seek out the ruin of people nor create systems of exclusion.

In climate change we have used the term "operationalizing" the response - that is to build upon best practices and to aggressively put them into practice. However, the motivation for building peaceful systems lacks heart. At least in the public eye and mainstream aspect of communication.

Even if you are Christian, it may be difficult to recognize the difficulty the Church had in creating a system of belief that balances all aspects of a heavy handed economic system. It's not a system directly opposed to a monetary system but if anything - using words of theology - "it fulfills the system”. The system itself is not necessarily corrupt but for the outcomes to be balanced there needs to be yet another "invisible hand."

In this case it was not a government but an Aboriginal tribal belief system that included a social structure based on ritual and strong supporting verbal and written practices. The new "rituals" resulting from the life and death of Christ was three fold: forgiveness of sins, acts of grace, and a completed since of salvation.

There IS a reason why economics is so structured around dept and profit: because the vision of the "New Jerusalem" is based on a pure Christian structure of the Church's theology of debt, forgiveness and grace. If there was ever a social balance to the metaphysics of money (economics) it would have to be the historical Christian concept of "Grace" and the invisible hand of its benefits.

Grace in Christianity

In Western Christian theology grace has been defined, not as a created substance of any kind, but as "the love and mercy given to us By God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it", "the condescension or benevolence shown by God toward the human race". It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to people "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" – that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God. - Wikipedia

The total nemesis of money and personal profit.

What made early Christianity a powerful balancing force is that a system of grace was defined and still exists in the Catholic faith - it recognizes suffering and the grace accumulated by its members and saint's. The Church itself acts as the system and dispenses "grace" through its actions as well as it's ceremonies. What the original Protestant reformer's protested was the Church's use of Indulgence's.

Indulgence

...an indulgence is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins which may reduce either or both of the penance required after a sin has been forgiven, or after death, the temporal punishment, in the state or process of purification called Purgatory. - Wikipedia

In the history of the Church the dept of sin was managed through ritual practices and by dispensing "grace". In the practice of forgiving the dept of sin it was an action that was managed through the ritual practices of the Church but also as an individual practice in its social teachings and example. Most of the time this context is considered "salvation" and it's somewhat muddled by history.

"In recent times, the Church has recognized that its teaching about the necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation has been widely misunderstood, so it has "re-formulated" this teaching in a positive way. Here is how the Catechism of the Catholic Church begins to address this topic: "How are we to understand this affirmation, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Reformulated positively, it means that all salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body" (CCC 846).

In keeping with the Church’s current spirit of ecumenism, this positive reformulation comes across less harshly than previous negative formulations. Even so, it remains quite controversial. So, let’s see how this new formulation squares with Scripture." - http://www.catholic.com/magazine/articles/what-no-salvation-outside-the-church-means

- Christ is the head of the Church.
- The church is his body.
- Grace is dispensed through the body.
- God does not condemn anyone.
- Grace comes from the acts of Christ.

Although many argue that access to grace is limited by the theology the opposite is true - everyone has access but not everyone "drinks this water." What I would tell you is this - find the well that contains this water and drink it daily - never stop. Offer it to everyone you meet including your enemies. While you may not have the means to give everyone you meet money - Grace is Free because it comes from God. Or if your an atheist - it comes from the very foundation of life itself and is totally a human in devoir.

Transubstantiation

For a while now I've been interested in the social history that surrounds the divergence of Christianity. Especially the more famous occurrence that resulted in the Protestant Reformation. One of the very first questions that formed - was that the first time in history? The resulting Protestant Reformation began with disagreements in doctrine especially those surrounding the Sacrament of the Eucharist. A Sacrament in this context is a ritual believed as an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace with the Eucharist being specifically instituted by Christ at the Last Supper.

The Reformation itself is considered beginning with Martin Luther, a German Augustinian monk, posting his 95 theses on a church door at the university town of Wittenberg. However, even this wasn't the first disagreement. Over the centuries there had been many that resulted in church councils that desired simplification. However, the political context of this church battle was based on the emergence of the middle class and thriving cities in what is now known as Italy. These new medieval cities began focusing on trade allowing for the growth of towns and leisure time. Artisans and merchants, developed their own associations, such as the Guild of Merchants, to protect their interests and help fight against the feudal system. This was done in the context of Church belief and structure.

Church symbolism and ritual was the bases of society and the Guild's expanded on these beliefs. The Church doctrin that allowed for this is called the Communion of Saints and at the center of this belief is the Eucharistic ritual.

"The communion of saints, when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of The Christian Church, living and the dead, those on earth, in heaven, and, for those who believe in purgatory, those also who are in that state of purification. They are all part of a single "mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all.” Wikipedia - Communion of Saints

The Protestant Reformation resulted in the destruction of the ritual that created social unity. In the context of our history it is this event that describes the beginning of the modern era. The Catholic Church survived and did reorganize without Kings and Monarchs. This was simply called the Counter Reformation and included reforms such as actual training for priests in theological traditions and a return to spiritual life through devotions and a personal relation to Christ. It also included the creation of a system of tribunals known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition.

The Inquisition moved at the pace of government and was as widespread as it's influence. There were three distinct movements based on the Supreme orders: Catholic, Spanish, Portuguese and Roman. The Roman Inquisition was considered more bureaucratic and focussed on pre-emptive control in addition to judicial prosecution. It was out of this history that our current forms of government evolved and that specifically separated Church into state, science, and religion.

Although the ritual at the center of Church was supplanted by politics, observation, and the Bible - we find ourselves now at the apex of this modern era where none of these institutions by themselves have meaning. Interesting enough the Eucharist Ritual is about meaning and what it does to use as humans. As a ritual, it's a social activity embraced by a people and a celebrant where activities have specific meaning. In the context of this tradition the change is from bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. This ritual was defined during the previous mentioned history and has its foundations in biblical history and tradition. However, can we now understand it's meaning? Is there a necessity hidden in these acts that could help us out of a society that has become so fragmented that it's disfunctional? The most enticing question for me is - has anything really changed? The only remaining ritual with as much history and tradition is money.

Culture of Life

As Pope John Paul II theorized on the "Culture of Life" in relation to Church teachings, the popular media completely ignored his pastoral thesis and focused on the "Culture of Death", here is what he said...

"...we are confronted by an even larger reality, which can be described as a veritable structure of sin. This reality is characterized by the emergence of a culture which denies solidarity and in many cases takes the form of a veritable 'culture of death.'"

He elaborates:

"This culture is actively fostered by powerful cultural, economic and political currents which encourage an idea of society excessively concerned with efficiency. ...a war of the powerful against the weak: a life which would require greater acceptance, love and care is considered useless, or held to be an intolerable burden, and is therefore rejected..."

Concluding that:

"...a kind of 'conspiracy against life is unleashed. This conspiracy involves not only individuals in their personal, family or group relationships, but goes far beyond, to a point of damaging and distorting, at the international level, relations between peoples and States."

What is very recognizable to me is his description of "sin" as a cultural unit of measure and indicating it has a structure. This structure does not have a name but he describes it as a specific activity -  "it denies solidarity".

Focusing on the "Culture of Death" immediately eliminated identifying any "activities" necessary to overcome "denying solidarity" in all our lives. Establishing a "Culture of Life" quickly ran into political issues and agreement with how this could be done. However, I do agree with the critics who say:

"...critics, who argue that religious conservatives do not have a monopoly on valuing life, or that they devalue it themselves, or that by emphasizing quantity of life they devalue quality of life."

Pope John Paul's original observation of a "Denial of Solidarity" however seems very valid in the current political context. Even more so than a "Culture of Death" focused on abortion, euthanasia, and other socially occurring manifestations.

"Denial of Solidarity" sounds related to Pope John Paul's personal involvement in Poland's Solidarity Movement (1980-1989). This was a pro-democracy movement made up of workers, intellectuals, students, peasants, the Catholic Church, and major professional groups targeting the communist regime.

Searching for reference to "Denial of Solidarity" was fruitless except for the law book entitled, Solidarity, by K. Bayertz, Springer Science & Business Media, Feb 28, 1999 - Law - 350 pages.

There are many legal books referencing this particular phrase and combination of words but as I dug deeper another type of reference began to appear. Health books and papers referencing human dignity as a taxonomy subject.

"Solidarity is unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on universities of interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies. It refers to the ties in a society that bind people together as one. The term is generally employed in sociology and the other social sciences as well as in philosophy or in Catholic social teaching."

Solidarity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://tinyurl.com/njut9g8

Culture of life - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://tinyurl.com/np3t9uf

Movements and Campaigns: http://tinyurl.com/ppz6eht

Solidarity - Google Books: http://tinyurl.com/mr2uxe7

A Philosophical and Historical Analysis of Modern Democracy, on the American

Ran across this reference recently and thought I would share it. It has a lot of Catholic references but its a nice concise history. I like it JUST BECAUSE it does contain some of the ancient concepts. The non faith version would focus on astronomy. Recently realized there were two major competitive social dynamics in the same region: priest prophets and kings while the other was astronomers engineers and kings. Kinda leads me back to the Cain and Able story that has a Muslim tradition also. Able is known as the city builder...

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0010.html

Noah's Arc...

”The flood myth motif is widespread among many cultures as seen in the Mesopotamian flood stories, the Puranas, Deucalion in Greek mythology, the Genesis flood narrative, and in the lore of the K'iche' and Maya peoples of Central America, the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa tribe of Native Americans in North America, and the Muisca people in South America." - Wikipedia.

Could not easily find sources that indicated the Noah story as historical but do remember seeing a documentary theorizing a regional event in the Mediterranean. It proposed a series of events caused by a tsunami affecting the entire shoreline.  Even so - was there a Noah and or an Ark?

As I read the bible it makes more since to be viewed as examples of leadership. Examples of tribal leaders from Israelite's history that transition into a fulfilled  leadership style in Christ. It contains examples of men and women experiencing life and how they influenced the Jewish people through their work and spiritual reflections.

When the Church recently updated biblical translations with current linguistic studies, they began to look into a more gender neutral approach. It was soon realized that these prior stories of men and women developed a leadership style that was handed down through the cultural traditions. Eliminating the references to gender would remove the observed fulfilled links to Jesus and Mary.

People come together as families forming culture with leaders emerging who resolve issues in a complex human dynamic. If you look at the subject matter of the separate biblical books, this is the commonality. They then begin to reveal an even more interesting story - a story of hope, inspiration and solidarity.

I see Noah as an early leader who was driven to become a savior. He possessed an internal knowledge that he decided to act upon. To me it is a beautiful metaphor and includes the cultural thinking during the time it was composed and popularized. His knowledge is described in a supernatural way but his family trusted him and his knowledge skills.

However, others did not. His knowledge, either as a real person or if only a story showing a desire by his people, was extensive and seems almost impossible. Engineering and animal conservation - of course these are modern equivalents. These great skills would seem highly unlikely if not for the more recent  example of European Renaissance history. Where, as in the past, knowledge was seen as coming from God and there was a struggle with its power.

The Noah story is a favorite and I can't wait to see it. Sounds like the director had a life long desire to put it to film. I like the concept of the ark as a metaphor bringing together diverse sources of information (social and conservation) into a functional representation allowing for good leadership decisions. Its obvious that "my ark" is spelled with a "C".

Creativity and a Cultural Reference...

As I walked into church today I immediately noticed the children's art imitating the "Stations of the Cross". The plastic lamination detracted from the childish intentions but I scanned the entire series. Wait a minute - one of these  is not like the others.

Being creative is less about art imitating life and more about mystery and expression. The child's picture was art and at such a young age. All the others could have been coloring book pictures but not "Jesus Meets His Mother". I even stayed after to see if I could get a picture but the lighting was too harsh.

It had swashes of color with some general shapes and a little detail. The only elements that led me to recognize Jesus or his Mother were the eyes. A single one for Jesus and a single one for Mary, excepting that Mary's had a tear. Of all the recent art I've seen this one moved me - would like to see it again and even get that picture.

Art is uniquely human and it means many things to many people. The northern European Renaissance developed highly detailed small symbolic compositions while the south did large scale murals whose detail could only be seen from a distance. The artist knows when its complete by an intuition born from mastering technique. Imitating life is a picture but when lifeless materials are made to contain mystery and hold individual attention - without any supporting dialog - then that's art.

Set my mood - then it happened. The Gospel was very symbolic too (MT 17:1-9) - "tents” - symbolic of the Tabernacle's of the old testament and clothing becoming "white as light". The Essenes Sect focused on writing while the the Pharisees and the Sadducees focused on the law and prophets. All different sources of knowledge that later became highly developed. However, a system of chapters and verses allowing for cross reference was not developed until the early 13th century (Archbishop Langton).

Earlier Jewish systems were less refined and relied heavily on a functional division based on scrolls and verse endings. Initially their was no book or canon and no chapters, however, writing was a highly developed part of the priestly tradition. They were not the only tradition either, included was an oral tradition and a ceremonial tradition.

The symbolic nature of the Jewish culture is apparent but without a method of cataloging there would have been an innate need to cross-reference the law, with the writing, with ceremony, and prophetic teaching. The stories used to perpetuate the culture included liberal references to historic symbols to explain how they changed. The importance was never historical or geospatial but a practical method of continuity so important to tribal survival and cult identity. Its symbols. And how they changed relative to their creators and influencers.

The Ten Commandments and the Economy of Faith...

The Catechism of the Catholic Church was a historical document when I read it back in 1995. As the book jacket says it was the first new edition of the catechism in 400 years and its organizational structure seemed new and sensible. It took traditional Church symbols such as the Ten Commandments and expanded on them in a thoughtful and through manner. The more intriguing side to me was the use of the descriptive term "economy" when describing "the faith".  I work with a number of economists so the word did not seem to fit.

Recently decide to Google the term - "catholic use of economy description in catechist" - and this was the first result.
 
Catechism of the Catholic Church - The seventh commandment

The Last Pope?

As a practicing Catholic I  have read a tremendous amount of historical and current writings of saints and the Church. The Church does not teach "End Time" prophesies because Christ did not.

Matthew 24:36 - But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

However, these methods of looking at literature and deriving content are a part of our Christian Hebrew history and were described in a negative Church context in the "Bible Code" books and movies.

A recent web review indicates that a Israeli web technology researcher has began discussions of these methods in a professional manner in her research - see "Israeli ‘web prophet’ maps the past to predict the future."

Would still like to see this DVD though - I noticed in the above video it's not the Catholic Priests giving any speculative comments. I do like this short video because of the dramatic techniques used to grab attention - very well done and quite professional. In an economic since "End Time" topics sell well and I think they should be called "End Time Profits":-)