Versus Religion
Religions have endured from the mysterious past to the modernized present and likely through to the murky future. Treating religions like the scourge some believe them to be does little to deter them from thriving. People may shine the light of truth on religions, forcing them into the shadows and crevices of society. But with enough time, the light fades, the day turns to night, and the religions skitter over and sample freely on the lost and the left behind.
We may wonder about the wide range of treatment religion garners. Why is it so bad? Why is it so good? Why do so many people care? And how is it that sometimes, so many people could care less?
It could be as simple as a misunderstanding. Philosophers can scrutinize the larger purpose of humanity, while scientific facts chisel away at the foundation of what was once sacred. The two approaches scramble for understanding while ignoring the tools and methods we all have in common — religion included.
These tools help us in our aspirations for knowledge and results, and also give religion an immortal dose of sustainability. To ignore these tools is to ignore what makes us — us! And what are these tools, so common they are taken for granted, yet diverse and powerful enough to create minefields of confusion, generation after generation.
One
The first piece is revealed when we acknowledge we all endeavor. We endeavor to live and thrive. We endeavor to gain knowledge, status, and peace of mind. And we endeavor to connect, to express ourselves, and to build. We do this constantly and uniformly. The underlying bones of this process are expressed here in this poem.
Two
Successful endeavors use this structure, while unsuccessful endeavors do not. This is the second piece revealed. Our endeavors require structure. Structure creates efficiency and guides progress. Without it we would wander away from our chosen aim and never achieve it.
Three
The third piece, as in the third line of the poem, is a need for collaboration. Whether it comes in the form of information, material resources, or people, is irrelevant. The greater an endeavor’s collaboration, the greater its power, impact, and sustainability.
Four
The fourth piece is the performance, the transformation of dream through structured collaborative effort. It is the part of the endeavor commonly referred to as the “work.” Without work, dreams remain dreams, never to touch the realm of reality.
A singular method
Religions which have sustained themselves for any period of time have used the structure of endeavor described in the poem. To be fair, every institution, business organization, group, and movement uses this structure because it is the only one available to us. There are differences in the beliefs, capacity, and direction of vision for each of these, but ultimately it is the same system.
Here is a glimpse of how religions use this system.
The set-up: stage one
First, religions present a vision for the individual. It could be eternal life, spiritual favor, peace of mind, or harmony with the universe. Or it could be earthly things like prosperity and community. It could even be an afterlife filled with the best earthly pleasures. Whichever is chosen, the vision must do its part to draw in the individual.
The set-up: stage two
Next, the individual is presented with a structure through which they are able to participate in the religion. This could consist of meeting places, meeting times, and rules for behavior. It could consist of tasks, preferred thoughts, and thought avoidance.
One of the most crucial aspects of the structure is payment expectations, described as donations, giving, and offerings. This part helps solidify long-term behaviors and establishes a bit of control over the individual in the areas of time and money, while simultaneously providing the religion a stream of income for its sustenance and future expansion.
Often times the religion is able to establish even greater levels of control through the introduction of “special” meeting places and times for the purpose of sharing higher-level information with a select few — from which, the chosen may be given important tasks to complete. Asking followers for payment, which could also be some form of sacrifice, to participate in this next-level training and task completion, can create even greater control.
The set-up: stage three
The third piece to the immortal religion is the establishment of community. New members will be introduced to more established followers of the religion. Careful consideration is given when it comes to pairing up new members with regular members. The goal is to develop deeper connections with the new initiates by borrowing the credibility of their established members. Making the new member feel comfortable with those who have similar backgrounds, helps produce a positive confirmation of choice for joining the religion and participating as a full member.
New members will be invited to social events outside the actual religious service, where they can interact with others in a less formal setting. These events could be a type of fellowship dinner with their new “friends”, but also well-planned events, such as the religion’s traditional events, sponsored performances, or other celebration-like events, as well as specialized, but general-entry study classes.
After a time, the new members will fellowship with many of the established members, all for the purpose of creating strong connections between all followers of the religion. This gives the religion the resiliency to withstand the ebb and flow in the strength of commitment from all its members over longer periods of time.
The people who act as the new members’ guides and mentors remain in close contact with the religion’s leadership, offering constant updates on the “progress” of the new initiates. The mentors will also take special instruction and training when it comes to guiding the new members. All of this is part of the training, for when these chosen mentors are asked to go out and establish an extended branch of the religion, or to lay a foundation for acquiring new members and converts.
The set-up: stage four
The fourth piece is the actual transformative work required. It could be as literal as building and beautifying the place of worship. But it also includes the work of traveling into neighborhoods and other nearby communities of the religion’s uninitiated, and conveying the “truth.” It involves communicating the stories and anecdotes taught and studied as part of their conversion, along with examples of the spiritual transformation possible and transformations witnessed.
Some religions will go so far as to invoke feelings of fear and terror to stir the neighborhood, while still others may resort to the use of violence. The work is a microcosm of the larger religious structure, attempting to garner further support, more effort, growth, and continued income.
The larger scheme of things
I have presented a method that grants success and sustainability to a religion, but it will work for any organization. The truth here is that all organizations already use it, and the organizational vision is just a matter of preference.
Religions persist because they use a structure and method that is tried and true. But it is the use of this tried and true method which can create confusion for the people of the world.
When a religion presents its success and sustainability, or its power to offer benefit and personal transformation, it is attributed to the particular beliefs of the religion, but never the power of endeavor itself. But using this underlying structure can give religions promise, and they endure.
Religions will always have the capability to create positive transformation, but the danger within a religion is the propagation of human preference — an individual’s singular belief made canon. And perhaps there are those who believe humanity is cursed, forever warping the words of their gods for self-centered benefit.
But the Endeavor Perspective shows this action to be merely the first step — the gathering of information for the creation of vision — in a much older four-step process.
Endeavoring is something we instinctively understand and pursue without it being formally taught to us. It is a method hardwired into humanity, but I suspect it exists within life itself because it is older than any religion or organization, any human language, or any human.
Near the moment our endeavors land upon perfection, humanity will embark on a quest for change, fueled by human preference that encourages movement and activity towards new outcomes. It prevents stagnation, and accordingly, humanity will remain a work in progress.
There is no religion that will override the process of the endeavor, but they could always use it for improvement.
Thank you for reading. You can subscribe to my future content here. I share my articles on Leadership and Management and their application to your world on my publication, The Endeavor Perspective. You can also check out my fantasy and fiction publication, A Bit of Madness, as well as its non-fiction counterpart, A Bit of Genius.
