[March 1999 journal entry]
Draw a circle representing the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm. Inside this circle, there can be no radical or enduring compulsion/drive to avoid, fight, correct, or minimize what appears tragic in human experience because to be inside the circle is to think such experiences reflect the intention/will of ‘God’. In/near the center of this circle are those who claim not to be troubled as was the ‘scrapheap’ Job by ‘innocent’ suffering. As the move is made from the center point outward to the perimeter, being troubled is increasingly experienced/expressed by those inside the circle. Now draw an outward winding/opening circle with its center point on the perimeter of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle. This outward winding/opening circle represents deepening regard for ‘innocent’ suffering. Consciousness of ‘innocent’ suffering deepens as exposure to the breadth/depth of ‘innocent’ suffering increases. The ‘scrapheap’ Job, as portrayed in his exchanges with his three close friends, should be located on/near the perimeter of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle and in the midst of the outward winding/opening ‘innocent’ suffering circle. Now, completely separate from the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle, draw another broken/fuzzy circle representing those outside the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm who are face to face with the harsh realities of human suffering, but who are not troubled in the theological way the ‘scrapheap’ Job was troubled by tragic human suffering because they do not respond to or interpret tragic human experiences as ‘the intention/will of God’.
Draw a circle representing the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm. Inside this circle, there can be no radical or enduring compulsion/drive to avoid, fight, correct, or minimize what appears tragic in human experience because to be inside the circle is to think such experiences reflect the intention/will of ‘God’. In/near the center of this circle are those who claim not to be troubled as was the ‘scrapheap’ Job by ‘innocent’ suffering. As the move is made from the center point outward to the perimeter, being troubled is increasingly experienced/expressed by those inside the circle. Now draw an outward winding/opening circle with its center point on the perimeter of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle. This outward winding/opening circle represents deepening regard for ‘innocent’ suffering. Consciousness of ‘innocent’ suffering deepens as exposure to the breadth/depth of ‘innocent’ suffering increases. The ‘scrapheap’ Job, as portrayed in his exchanges with his three close friends, should be located on/near the perimeter of the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle and in the midst of the outward winding/opening ‘innocent’ suffering circle. Now, completely separate from the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm circle, draw another broken/fuzzy circle representing those outside the ‘religious’ T/O paradigm who are face to face with the harsh realities of human suffering, but who are not troubled in the theological way the ‘scrapheap’ Job was troubled by tragic human suffering because they do not respond to or interpret tragic human experiences as ‘the intention/will of God’.
