A secular creed

 

A creed offers both a description of the world - a worldview - and a framework for those who would like to explore life from within this worldview. To borrow from the preamble to the Presbyterian creed, the creed outlined here is limited by its brief and simple statements, is open to different understandings, and is not exhaustive.

It is, if you like, a tentative guideline, a tool, a set of game instructions. It is not set in stone.

The creed is made up of six aspects and four tasks. It can also be viewed from multiple perspectives.

The six aspects

  1. The first two aspects are domains: people and nature. Whilst people are part of nature, this is a creed for people. People are, in that sense, special - not the centre of the universe, but the centre from which we take our place in the universe.

  2. There are two dimensions: the material and the spiritual. The material dimension is that which is tangibly present and accessible through the ordinary human senses - what we can see, touch, smell, taste, and/or hear. The spiritual dimension is the unseen - the mystery, the complexity, the intangible, the out-of-the-ordinary, the disputed.

  3. There are two life processes: relationship and expression. Relationship describes the continuous dance of give and take between life forms. In the case of people, relationship also encompasses the possibility, restraint, harm and beauty that comes from of our dependence on each other. Expression describes the urge of life forms to become themselves. The koru strives to be a fern frond, the baby strives to be a person - with all that entails.

The four tasks

  1. The first task is noticing. We notice when we pay attention, as best we can, to what is going on. Noticing involves never quite believing the stories we tell ourselves - including the story I am telling now - so that we are open to life as it actually unfolds.

  2. The second task is practice. Practice involves doing, or, at times, not doing. It uses the body and the mind. Practice carries risk and affects the world around us.

  3. The third task is storying. Storying primarily uses language and other symbols in order to name, describe and provide narratives to explain what is, why it is, and what should be.

  4. Each of the first three tasks must be considered in relation to both the other two tasks and the six aspects. Too much attention to one aspect or one task may neglect the others. The fourth task therefore is discernment. Discernment involves standing aside from the noise of life and listening for what it asks of you.

Perspectives

Each aspect and each task can be considered from multiple perspectives. We can focus on me or us. What do I experience? What is required of us? We can focus on those we are with. What do you experience? What is required of you? In what way can I help you flourish? Or we can consider others. What might she experience? What is required of him? In what way can I help them flourish?