God has created humans to function best with a certain amount of structure. God himself is a God of order. 1 Corinthians 14:33a says, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” A little later in the same chapter, verse 40 says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.
God also exemplifies extreme order in the way He created the earth and the universe. The planets orbit the sun in very stable and predictable patterns. Eclipses can be predicted very accurately years in advance. Even in the middle of a long cold winter we all have a firm belief that spring will come again. Unfortunately, humans living in a sin-cursed world tend to live lives that are very busy and not nearly as organized as our Creator or even His creation around us.
In a group camp, we work very hard to establish a structured routine in which everyone knows what is coming next and what is expected of each member of the group. Many of the boys at camp have had a hard time being organized with their belongings or in the way that try to accomplish a given task. Often that lack of organization ultimately leads to failure which directly affects a boy’s sense of self-worth. When a boy comes to camp, much of his effort during the first two months is often spent on establishing the ABC’s of camp, which simply are: A. A clean camper, B. A clean campsite, and C. A clean tent.
For example, mornings at camp are very structured. The whole group gets up at the same time. Next they make their beds and sweep their tent floor. The it’s time for a short group devotional. Here they talk about what they have planned for the rest of the day. The whole day goes in a similar fashion and the group always knows what’s coming up next. This structure lends itself to a sense of security. A group that feels secure can solve problems very well as opposed to an insecure group. As we help boys learn to be neat and organized with the physical things in life we are also, by the grace of God, establishing a sense of peace and rest in thee emotional and spiritual parts of a boy also.
The structure at camp provides a great opportunity to teach the concept of right and wrong. As each boy learns to life life in an organized way he also learns that there is a right and wrong way to do any given task. Ultimately the result we seek through the structured lifestyle at camp is to bring each boy into a personal relationship with the Author of order.
Chief Leighton Martin, Supervisor
Source: a hard copy of camp newsletter, not available on the web
Richard Rohr: Changing Our Minds
People who are in early stage religion usually love the “two steps backward” quotes in the Bible. They seem to be drawn toward anything that’s punitive, shame-based, exclusionary of “wrong” people, or anything that justifies the status quo, which just happens to be keeping them on top socially, economically, and religiously. They start by thinking that’s what religion is about–maintaining order and social control. They see God as a glorified Miss Manners.
Once you idealize power and being at the top, you tend to emphasize the almighty, all-powerful nature of God, who is made into the Great Policeman in the sky to keep us all under control (or at least everybody else under control!). Frankly, you are totally unprepared for Jesus. He is a scandal and a disappointment.
.. First they change their life stance, and then they can be entrusted with the Bible. For all others who will not change their idealization of dominative power, the Bible is merely used as self-serving information and ammunition against others. It actually would be better if we did not read the Bible until we undergo a conversion.
.. Only converted people, who are in union with both the pain of the world and the love of God, are prepared to read the Bible–with the right pair of eyes and the appropriate bias, which is from the side of powerlessness and suffering instead of the side of power and control.
Walls, Borders, a Dome and Refugees
The world is being redivided into regions of “order” and “disorder,” and for the first time in a long time, we don’t have an answer for all the people flocking to get out of the world of disorder and into the world of order.
.. The net migration flow from Mexico to the U.S. is now zero.
.. When it comes to our neighbors, Trump and Walker are making Americans both afraid and dumb, purely for political gain.
.. That is because the three largest forces on the planet — Mother Nature (climate change, biodiversity loss and population growth in developing countries), Moore’s law (the steady doubling in the power of microchips and, more broadly, of technology) and the market (globalization tying the world ever more tightly together) — are all in simultaneous, rapid acceleration.
.. “There is nothing in our experience that has prepared us for what is going on now: the meltdown of an increasing number of states all at the same time in a globalized world. And what if China starts failing in a globalized world?”