Submission and the Divine
Submission is a scary concept. It involves giving up control, perhaps for just a moment, perhaps longer. We like to believe we're in control, that we choose what we allow to happen to us. Or we go to the other extreme, believing we have no control, that everything is out of our hands, and that some other agency, either mortal or divine, has control. As in most things, the truth is somewhere in between.
We have total control over ourselves, although not all of that control is conscious. No one else can truly take away our ability to choose how and if to act at any given point, although the world around us does limit the choices we have, and limits even more our appearance of choices. The choices we make, and the consequences that come along with that, are our own, though.
So where does submission enter the picture? Part of submission to the Divine is the knowledge that we can't control all variables in our lives, that we must know what we do and do not have control over. We must let go of those things we do not control, and realize our limits. We must control ourselves, but the rest is left up to the Divine in the shape of other people and the world in general.
The other part of submission to the Divine is realizing that no matter how we may try, we will never be and have never been perfect. We must transcend our limited, daily selves, and see ourselves as part of the Divine exploring itself. We are individual, but we are also a piece of the Divine, and we must accept that duality of existence and submit to the fact that our ego, our *I*-ness, will someday pass, leaving us once again one with the Divine without artificial division.
What of submission to mortal agencies? Clergy, spouses, bosses, friends? Do we submit to them, and if so, how? All I can say here is that the choices we make are still our own, no matter whether another person ordered it or not. We are each the center of our own universe, and no one has the right to attempt to change that fact. To attempt to completely submit to another, or to require or allow someone else to completely submit to you, is both immoral and impossible. This does not mean we should ignore authority, for authority exists for good reasons. However, the moral culpability rests in each person’s hands that does (or doesn’t do) the act in question.
In short, we must submit to reality, to our lack of control over anything not ourselves. However, we must also realize that each person has control over their own selves, that there is never anyone but ourselves able to have control over our actions. When we submit to the Divine, it is a freeing submission to ourselves, allowing us to blossom to the extent of our potential.
Questions:
On what issues must we submit? What does that entail?
What does moral culpability mean to you?
Why must we accept a lack of control in our lives? The existence of control in our lives?
We have total control over ourselves, although not all of that control is conscious. No one else can truly take away our ability to choose how and if to act at any given point, although the world around us does limit the choices we have, and limits even more our appearance of choices. The choices we make, and the consequences that come along with that, are our own, though.
So where does submission enter the picture? Part of submission to the Divine is the knowledge that we can't control all variables in our lives, that we must know what we do and do not have control over. We must let go of those things we do not control, and realize our limits. We must control ourselves, but the rest is left up to the Divine in the shape of other people and the world in general.
The other part of submission to the Divine is realizing that no matter how we may try, we will never be and have never been perfect. We must transcend our limited, daily selves, and see ourselves as part of the Divine exploring itself. We are individual, but we are also a piece of the Divine, and we must accept that duality of existence and submit to the fact that our ego, our *I*-ness, will someday pass, leaving us once again one with the Divine without artificial division.
What of submission to mortal agencies? Clergy, spouses, bosses, friends? Do we submit to them, and if so, how? All I can say here is that the choices we make are still our own, no matter whether another person ordered it or not. We are each the center of our own universe, and no one has the right to attempt to change that fact. To attempt to completely submit to another, or to require or allow someone else to completely submit to you, is both immoral and impossible. This does not mean we should ignore authority, for authority exists for good reasons. However, the moral culpability rests in each person’s hands that does (or doesn’t do) the act in question.
In short, we must submit to reality, to our lack of control over anything not ourselves. However, we must also realize that each person has control over their own selves, that there is never anyone but ourselves able to have control over our actions. When we submit to the Divine, it is a freeing submission to ourselves, allowing us to blossom to the extent of our potential.
Questions:
On what issues must we submit? What does that entail?
What does moral culpability mean to you?
Why must we accept a lack of control in our lives? The existence of control in our lives?
posted by Vieva @ 3:04 PM
4 Comments:
At 11:08 AM,
Star said…
Amazingly, I had not yet read this one when I wrote my religion blog entry this morning. It's not on the same subject, no, but it contains some very pertinent points. Part of how my, er, problem manifests itself, for instance, is an insistence on perfection--which you address by pointing out that part of submitting is realizing that imperfection is normal. I also have issues with not being able to control my environment, a lesson I thought I'd learned a while back but I think perhaps I'd managed to forget again. It's all bound up together in one messy knot, so it's... almost odd that this happened to be the next essay of yours I read after writing the entry I did.
It's fading now, perhaps because I'm beginning to think about this intellectually rather than emotionally, but as I was reading this... I had a kind of a feeling like I was clinging to something by the tips of my fingers, and I knew I should let go but I was afraid to fall. If that makes sense.
Questions:
1. I have no good answer for this at the moment. I could parrot back what you said in the essay, but that's not the point. Perhaps I should add this to my list, too.
2. Moral culpability is, I think, different from responsibility. When you are responsible for something, you have caused it to happen, but that does not imply that you are to blame. If that makes sense. An extreme example would be that if in a "kill or be killed" situation, you chose to kill, you would be responsible for the other person's death, but given the circumstances I doubt you would be culpable. To be culpable, I think you must make a choice of your own free will--truly of your own free will; that can't be an excuse.
However, I think perhaps the difference between responsibility and culpability is largely a legal and/or theoretical difference. Whether you are culpable for your decisions or not, you are still responsible. That means you still have to clean up your own mess and see things through. Just because you were not to blame doesn't mean you didn't do it.
3. We must accept the lack of control we have because it exists. Shit happens. Even if I have total control over all controllable aspects of my life and am doing everything perfectly, a tornado could come through and blow down my house tomorrow. Or the New Madrid could slip and goodness knows what the effects would be here. Or a drunk driver could plow into me on the way home. Or I could wind up with some random cancer. Or I could have been born with a genetic disorder. Or any number of things. However, we must accept that we do have control over some parts of our lives because frankly it's a cop-out to deny that. We have to take responsibility for our actions--good or bad--and not just try to excuse everything with a shrug and a devil-made-me-do-it excuse.
At 1:20 PM,
Vieva said…
p'raps you're clinging to control? As long as you're in control, you can't be dealing with the gods .. because they're beyond your control. just a thought.
and yeah, these essays are goofy .. when I re-read them I find things I never noticed I wrote in the first place! (of course, I don't exactly write them).
At 1:42 PM,
Star said…
Oh, I've no doubt I'm clinging to control. Again, the vast gulf between knowing the right thing to do and bringing oneself to put it into practice... *sigh* I'm working on it.
At 9:50 AM,
Vieva said…
if you figure it out, lemme know, 'kay? :)
Post a Comment
<< Home