Transforming Kingdom Architecture - Beams and Struts

When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions. Mark 12:34 (1)

"Understanding The Apostles Creed"

I've recently discovered a newly introduced magazine describing itself as an "experiment in collective intelligence" and whose content is directed towards those like myself, supposedly, possessing 'hungry brains and thirsty souls'.  Consequently, and comprised of an ingenious conclave of associates (sometimes) assuming double-duty as publishers, editors, and contributors, Beams and Struts' mixed-media format, high-tech presentation, and 'deep' commentary appears to place it conspicuously at cyber-media's leading edge.

Acceding however that the "modern knowledge quest has largely been characterized by specialization and analysis" that's in turn, left an immense amount "of fragmentation in its wake"; Beams and Struts instead, takes a crosscurrent approach in exploring "how that vast body of post/modern knowledge hangs together."  A noble and all together worthy objective, indeed.

"Since no one person can possibly accomplish this project alone, we've gathered an assemblage to work together.  The intention behind the site is to inquire into, envision, and help usher in the post-postmodern world.  We live in a troubled time rich with possibilities for transformation.  Beams and Struts is a place to exchange information, share perspectives, and initiate action.  Together we can make a complex world understandable and act appropriately within it." from "About Us: The Beams Team" (2)

Yet to my way of thinking, because a 'post-postmodern' approach to knowing suggests a tact far more 'dialogic' than modernity's pathological compulsion towards authoritarianism (or postmodernity's with totalitarianism), I've found Trevor Malkinson's apologetic in "Understanding The Apostles Creed", exemplary.  No tired rumination of staid doctrine here; to the contrary, we're actually discussing 'the stuff' of which the Cosmos is created.

Toward the Soul's Awakening

Similarly too, but beginning with the premise that there's "arguably no more important and pressing topic than the relation of science and religion in the modern world", Ken Wilber's, "The Marriage of Sense and Soul" has artfully proposed a framework for the prodigious enterprise of "integrating Science and Religion".

"The reconciliation of science and religion is not merely a passing academic curiosity.  These two enormous forces--truth and meaning--are at war in today's world.  Modern science and premodern religion aggressively inhabit the same globe, each vying, in its own way, for world domination.  And something, sooner or later, has to give." from The Marriage of Sense and Soul (3)
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As Wilber's work attests however, the bigger picture involving how this knowledge is transmuted to spiritual or even evolutionary development in relation to the human soul accordingly, resides within contemplative or meditative practice itself.  In this regard, Wilber fervently contends that "(a)ll knowledge is based upon practice--that is, at the core of every truth lies an injunction that essentially says 'if you want to know this, do that.'  This is true for all branches of human knowledge, whether ecology, psychology, physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, or mysticism--data can only be enacted and observed if you are willing to perform the experiment" (4).


For these same reasons then, it's especially compelling to me that contemporary practitioners like Gail Hochachka ("Enacting a Post-Secular Spirituality") and Phileena Heurertz ("Yoga as Christian Spiritual Formation?") are both such sterling partisans of a revolutionary, but yet emerging, yogic discipline.  Consequently, but in this same respect, what could be simpler than to traverse our own paths from their respective example?  Hmmm?

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Works Cited

1. Blue Letter Bible. "Gospel of Mark 12:34 - (NASB - New American Standard Bible)." Blue Letter Bible. 1996-2012. 9 Feb 2012.
2. Beams and Struts. "About Us: The Beams Team." Beams and Struts. 2011-2012. 9 Feb 2012.
3. Wilber, Ken. The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Religion. New York: Random House. 1998. Print.

4. de Vos, Corey. "Integral Ecology, Part 1: Uniting Multiple Perspectives on the Natural World - Sean Esbjorn-Hargens and Ken Wilber." kenwilber.com. 10 Feb 2012.