Introduction to a civic plan

 

Hello, Nomads,

This is to introduce a plan for mutually sharing heartfelt United States thoughts stemming from the Bible then collaborating toward an achievable better-future. Nomads who participate will discover common words& phrases which traditionally mislead& divide human-beings. Participants will help replace dividers with expressions that relate to the-good citizen’s experiences& observations and motivate dependents to reform. For example, below, I suggest “appreciatively caution” to replace Old Testament (OT) instruction: "rebuke" a fellow-citizen. 

The collaborative-purpose is to establish the Genesis-1 civic-intentions reflected in the 1787 U.S. Constitution, responsible-human-independence (RHI), without lessening even one person’s spiritual well-being. I think UBC Baptists are best capable for this 2022-needed evolution. Consider the divergent chaos the U.S. has come to under Anglo-American tradition.

I promise:  Future messages will not attempt to cover as many issues as this one poses. Henceforth, I will post my study-essays on my blog, understandtheknowledge.blgospot.com and will also share posts by email. Please take time to comprehend this introduction; talk to me when you have questions/suggestions, and read blog messages that interest you. You can visit the blog in its new function anytime. I have moved previous posts to "archive" and will add to it posts I want to copyright to protect my opportunity to publish original ideas.

Let me review some key phrases I’ve used in class. On December 26, 2021, Kenneth finished his advent series on the fabulous four: fellowship, fear, forgiveness, and faith. When he asked for our faith-stories, I mentioned faith-in independent literature-study, including the Bible.

After 27 years’ self-directed study, I returned to UBC on October 17 to share with fellow-citizens a message:  Civic-citizens can& may benefit more from the-metaphysical-Jesus than from his body& blood. The consequence of my return is a flood of response, seen& unseen, informing me at an exhausting pace beyond Sunday morning class-time. That is, I maintain several other conversations that continually open my mind and my heart. I appreciate Phillip Chialastri, the manager at my auto mechanic shop for the events that led to my return to UBC. Recently, Charles "Chas" Kennon helped me perceive that Paul promoting understanding, as in Ephesians 1:8-10, addresses the-metaphysical-Jesus. Quoting, "With all wisdom and understanding, [God] made known . . . the mystery . . . to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ."

I can now articulate what I mean by the-metaphysical-Jesus: the collective civic-integrity among considerate fellow-citizens, including Jesus, in evolution’s civic-journey to discover the-ineluctable-truth. We are at the leading-edge of 300,000 years’ homo sapiens’ psychological journey. Yet we discovered only about 5,500 years’ grammar to study. 

Please note “ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, neglected, or resisted. Its usage empowers fellow-citizens to state “I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth”, when that is so. For example, to the question, “Will my soul live during my afterdeath?”, it’s prudent to say “I don’t know”. To the question, “Will my person live during my afterdeath?, the human-being is too powerful to pretend and can& may respond: “Each person’s death is ineluctable, yet their achievements live on”.

The civic-citizen neither compromises nor subjugates their personal-God, yet, in humility-to the-ineluctable-consequences-of-personal-choice, does not probe/question a fellow-citizen’s private spirituality. We see personal-accommodation regularly in Nomads and can share this civic-privacy with others.

I cannot solve the mystery of Jesus’s reported expression (“I shall lose none . . . he has given me”) and accept that no person, Jesus-contemporary or modern, can witness for Jesus. Yet, I think there is much to gain by considering reports-about-Jesus that seem validated by human-kind’s journey toward accepting the-ineluctable-truth. Progress can be journaled with a view to civic-integrity.

The recent literary-discovery that motivated my return to UBC is the perhaps 5,500 year old civic suggestion I glean from Genesis 1:28. With a view inspired by humankind’s technological progress (we plan to place a nuclear reactor on Mars within 15 years yet are in social chaos) we can& may reform civic-integrity.

So far, it seems humankind has ignored the Genesis-1 message, I think:  The species female&-male-human-being, each and together in the-God’s image, can& may provide order& prosperity to the lesser species and to the earth. So far, it seems humankind has both regressed order and increased chaos. For example, in Protestantism alone there are some 45,000 sects.

Returning to recent Nomads topics, Kenneth Tipton’s series that preceded the fabulous four included the Luke 17:1-19 spiritual formula: rebuke, await repentance, forgive, then expect to continually repeat the cycle. Sidelining my old policy, forgive& forget, I recently experienced the divisiveness of the parallel civic-formula: perceive wrong, rebuke, await repentance and if forthcoming, forgive (yet expect unlimited offense-repetition). That is to say, when I tried rebuke, I received silence, reminding me to forgive& forget. What the Old Testament taught and the New Testament mimicked makes no civic sense.

I reject the OT rebuke-suggestion and weak NT affirmation. I propose, under Genesis 1:28’s modern message, an alternative formula: appreciative caution, self-interested consideration& response, necessary& just reform, and mutual gratitude. In this mutually-appreciative process, the accuser, upon listening to the accused-person's view may discover ineluctable self-interest-reform. That is to say, the accuser may emerge surprised& grateful to reform a personal error. In other words, the accused may prove that the accuser is in error.

A plan for appreciative collaboration

In order to develop such deep thoughts without burdening Nomads, I re-dedicated my existing blog, understandtheknowledge.blogspot.com to journal reflections on Nomads-discussion, without copyright; your witness that words& phrases came from Nomads will be sufficient, along with the journal, to defend our future use of the ideas. If needed& wanted, we can add authors to the blog. Some members won’t have time or inclination to read the posts, and that is OK. I consider all of my communications an appeal to fellow-citizens to improve civic expressions, a clearly self-interested work. And the blog enables me to update posts for clarity and new perspectives.

Only a dreamer would think essays to develop a civic-glossary could improve this world; I am a dreamer. In my extreme dream, Nomads will induce UBC to accelerate an achievable better future. Beyond that, UBC may influence its Baptist-convention to join the evolution. UBC could form a team to journal, practice, facilitate, and encourage Genesis 1:28’s RHI or better. The blog’s name can be changed in order to accelerate essential reform. 

In the dreams’ dream, the U.S. will establish the 1787 U.S. Constitution’s intentions to fulfill Genesis 1:28: constrain chaos on earth. The intention stated in the preamble is 5 domestic disciplines --- integrity, justice, peace, strength, and prosperity, “in order to” practice, facilitate, and encourage RHI “to ourselves and our Posterity” including legal immigrants. Spirituality is not among the disciplines, in order to hold religious practices private rather than civil.

Vaughn Crombie convinced me to try UBCCourageClass, and I am participating while commenting on Nomads' scripture selections.

Phil

Updated on October 16, 2022