Religion

            Life is a labyrinth of mystery, travelled best with a string. This string guides us through a world of misdirection and dead ends. If we have a goal or any center to our maze we will not reach it without such an elegant device as the string. With no string we have no hope. Some people call this string “religion” but it is any conception of the world that allows us to organize a cohesive system of values for ourselves. What if this string is made up of threads? Perhaps depending on the way these threads are woven together determines your conception of the world, your string. One of these threads might be your character. The other thread might be your perception.

             Character in this sense is a slippery concept. It also might be described as the archetypal roles we fulfill in this life. You may be the cargiver, the lover or the trickster. No one plays just one role of course. You may be any combination of these or other characters. In any moment of time you may be any combination of these or other characters. Importantly these characters do exist and if we were to pull apart the fibers of who you are we would be able to sort these fibers across all these characters you play through the course of your life. Do not be perturbed at the seeming simplicity of this act. The multitudes of your possible character selves are endless, only further complicated by the limitless ratios we find them in.

            But what of these other threads, threads of perception? Again the word falls short of its meaning. The existence of the caregiver being cannot be fully defined as a person that helps people. This person sees the world in a certain way. The thread of their caregiver character will intertwine with a view or perception. They are motivated by the way they see the world. Their disposition may largely be defined by this view, their very role as a caregiver effected by this. It might be described as the lens through which they see their world. Perhaps a caregiver sees the world through a lens of abundance. They find their role as a caregiver full of benefits they would otherwise be unable to enjoy. Thus the caregiver moves through life with a sense of gratitude in all things. Maybe another caregiver dissimilarly sees the world through a lens of scarcity. The caregiver finds the imbalanced nature of their role unjust. They give and they give and in return find nothing of value. So every character we play is deepened through these different perceptions. As we live out this multitude of characters with these multitudes of perceptions we become multidimensional beings.

            As this complex world comes into focus we see all these threads twisting upon each other to create a strong and contiguous string of understanding with which we can use to build a cohesive system of values. I would suggest this string may just be strong enough to lead us through the labyrinth of our lives.