Thomas:
Though the concept of spirituality or beliefs such as; do we have a soul,
may seem far from the topic of futurework, I am inclined like Ray Harrell to
believe that they are as important or more important than having a job. In
fact, it could be that spirituality and the attainment of different
experiences may be one of the major growth areas of employment in the near
future - it has been in the past, note the growth of monastaries in the dark
ages as the major refuge of reading and writing when Rome collasped.
>
> Thomas Lunde wrote:
>>
>> RH asks:
>>
>> Does work serve a purpose to the soul?
>>
>> TL:
>>
>> The soul has become a defunct theory in our modern? age. I
>> thank you for bringing it up for I still believe in a
>> "soul", though perhaps I might not use the Christian word as
>> it is very ambigous. Perhaps, in my terms, I might use a
>> word such as entity or psyche in the Sethian sense to refer
>> to that aspect of us the incarnates and reincarnates for
>> purpose. In that sense, "Does work serve a purpose to the
>> soul?", I would answer in a general sense no - though there
>> are no limits and the psyche may use work to set up
>> situations in which the important work which is the
>> learnings of values, choices and the development of talents,
>> may take place. In our less spiritual time, when character
>> has become a value represented by net worth, rather than the
>> wisdom that accumulates to an elder or shaman, work in the
>> sense of "paid work" has become more valuable than personal
>> growth. Our ancestors would surely find this most strange
>> and look at us as if we are deranged - and we are.
Bob:
>>
> Sethian indeed! Shades of the occult, "channeling" and clairvoyance.
> The soul may be the spirit in each of us and may well be reflected in
> the feeling we get when we excel at something or are the source of a
> random act of kindness (for example). It may also be the source of those
> nagging feelings of conscience some experience when they do what they
> ought not do, or vice versa.
Thomas:
To me the discussion of a soul, is not so much an effect thing as it is a
structure thing. We have a body, we have a brain, we have (most of us) two
arms, two legs, etc. We have a soul - or we don't. It is a piece of our
makeup as beings or not. I choose to believe we have one. As one teacher I
worked with for several years said, (paraphrased) "What you believe is
unimportant for the fact that you are conversing with me is proof."
I also don't think a soul is there for the purpose of providing a nice or
nasty feeling, rather I see the soul as that part of us that does not
incarnate, that is eternal, that exists for purposes that are beyond our
ken. In fact I would reframe these statements and state that a soul has us
and that we are a temporary part of an eternal being that is providing us
with a life to experience in and giving us the individual attributes that it
- the soul - finds value in. This does not make us lesser, for in my truth,
we are one but have different aspects and different realities to experience
in.
Bob:
>
> Does work serve a purpose to the soul? Is that the same as asking does
> work make us feel good? For many having work (job - is that the same?),
> which generates an income, is accompanied by feelings of well-being. But
> work can also be very trying (testing our patience and adherence to
> values) and that surely is serving a purpose to the soul.
Thomas:
Again in the most general of terms, I don't think we in our limited aspect
as humans and temporal have any concept of the purposes of the soul. As
another teacher put it, "you are the fingertip of your soul". In other
words we have a relationship to our soul similar to the fingertip to the
whole body. The fingertip can feel and do certain things and it provides
information that is used by more complex parts of our body but for the
fingertip to understand the liver, the central nervous system, language and
belief are not the role it has in the body. That is not to denigrate our
role, just as the fingertip, by sensing heat might prevent serious damage to
the whole body, so perhaps the human and his experiences may provide
valuable information to the soul.
>
> Or, perhaps work is simply being gainfully employed (contributing to
> society), paid or not, and that also is probably a source of good
> feelings.
>
> While it may be true in some circles that "work in the sense of "paid
> work" has become more valuable than personal growth" it begs the
> question "Are there circumstances when "paid work" and personal growth
> are synonomous?" This probably depends on how one defines "personal
> growth" - growth in professional skills, growth in the range of one's
> talents, growth in one's world knowledge, etc.
>
> But, regardless of that issue, where has soul gone?
Thomas:
The soul has gone nowhere. It still exists, though perhaps not noticed by
our frentic culture which is obsessed with the comforts of the body and the
goals of our society. That's ok. The soul will survive our neglect.
>
> If "the psyche (is that the same as soul?) may use work to set up
> situations in which the important work which is the learnings of values,
> choices and the development of talents, may take place" then it appears
> that the soul can seek its own purpose in work!
Today - Fathers Day, I find myself having a number of experiences that are
impacting me deeply. First, because of the economics of employment and the
need to have money in our society, my ex-wife has had to relocate to
California and somewhat of a financial necessity, we have had to let my
oldest daughter (12) go with her while I and my youngest daughter have moved
in with my mother who is beginning to experience Alzheimers and my Aunt who
has Diabetes and they both require my support. So, I find my family being
rearranged by circumstances.
My brother, who is a United Church minister, today focused his sermon around
Father's Day and my daughter asked to be allowed to read something to the
congregation about Father's. It was very flattering and nicely done. I'm
proud of her. My brother chose as the sermon the story of the return of the
Prodigal Son but renamed the story as The Loving Father and he took a new
viewpoint on the story that the Prodigal son was welcomed back because the
Father was a loving father and within the context of love is the concept of
forgiveness.
But the real impact re Father's day came from none of those somewhat
predictable experiences. Rather the one that touches my heart was in the
morning paper in which a reporter told of some Albanian refugees coming down
out of the hills to their village, weak from hunger and with almost no water
for seven days. The NATO soldiers told the refugees that there were still
Serbs around and to be careful and not go to a certain area of town. But
there was the need for food and water for the group and four older men, I
assume of grandfather age volunteered to go into this area to find help for
the group. All four were shot dead by a Serbian sniper. To me, these were
Fathers. That they put there personal safety behind the needs of family and
group and risked and in this case lost their lives was - sacrifice is too
tame and misused word for their act of responsibility assumed and acted on.
It is always said with sadness, the event in which the last soldier in a
conflict dies, often minutes and hours before peace is declared. For these
four, to have died when the conflict was resolved seems especially poignant
to me and the circumstances under which they died, reflect to me the highest
heroism. My point in all this is to try and show, from my point of view,
the irrelevancies of work as an aspect of learning. The events in each of
our lives are fraught with lessons. What we pay attention to and what we
value in the West is - to me - so very superficial against the values of
life. Your comments about work are part of what we value as a culture.
They are not what I value as a human being.
Respectfully,
Thomas Lunde
>
> Nothing is simple. Complexity seems to be the name of the game. We have
> a situation here analogous to that of the fluttering of a butterfly's
> wings in China precipitating a tornado in Oklahoma: RH poses a brief
> question which generates a whirlwind of responses.
>
> Must be a good question.
>
> --
> http://publish.uwo.ca/~mcdaniel/
>
