‘The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious-the knowledge of the existence of something unfathomable to us, the manifestation of the profound reason coupled with the most brilliant beauty’. Referencing Jewish- Christian tradition in particular but reaching generally, Einstein was of the view that the highest goal of that tradition was the gift of free and responsible development of the individual so that he(she) may place power freely ‘and gladly in the service of all mankind’ (Einstein quoted in Mcdonald: 2009).
The increasing diffusion of identity conflicts (religious, individual, ethnic, political) across systems invites closer attention to the concept of a ‘Settled Identity’.The concept is a framing of the draw of strength from the frailties of nature;- a just measure of truth as unchanging proposition.
The Settled Identity is the knowledge driven belief system that gravitates toward a ground state or inner peace.
Soul Constancy!
A Settled Identity can be good or bad. It is a belief system evident in the cut of the clay; as nomenclature, an absent difference between the careful ruler and the true shepherd in contradistinction to ruinous storms and ill-wind breakers opposed to love.
We choose God! More precisely, He chose us (John 15:16).
The settled identity is fully functional as a belief in the ‘being’ and its condition of peace; whether the being be the laws, ideas, precepts of individual(s), group(s) or nation(s) or Origin.
The settled identity is strengthened by increased knowledge and patience;- ‘a strength to servant’ for service by a driving belief system.
This Settled Identity is the soul’s watch awaiting a promise fulfillment.Mercy’s clock turns back time to nudge love on, with life leading…..
Strong System Spirit is unbroken because of Original glow!
Unstable systems everywhere are in a state of agitated peace, even when they appear to be at equillibrium.Some weak states or systems lurch from crisis to crisis.The crises are often religious, political and/or ethnic.
Violent conflicts in a political space are often the result of political systems that oscillate from peace to conflict (and sometimes swing back to a temporary peace), and often from a conflicted state to a more conflicted state fueled by a level of surrounding insecurity.These political systems are in violation of their stated beliefs.
The exaggerated level of fluctuation in response to surrounding insecurity constitutes the ‘unsettled identity’ in reaction to external periodic movement or stimuli.
In effect, a settled identity aims at equilibrium by moderation until it is impacted by exogenous agents.
It is the knowledge-driven understanding and utility of this concept that mitigates against insecurity.
An ideal Settled Identity is a balance between what is acceptable and what is tolerated.Conceptually, the driving belief system enables the settled identity.
Every system-individual, national or international-has a belief system.One can usually find this in a coat of arms or emblem. Examples are ‘faith and unity’, ‘unity and service’ etc. At minimum, the motto is what the system aspires to. An individual may have this as a philosophy.
These belief systems are often perverted by greed and power absolutism- a scouring by thorns. The same is true of religion. ‘In every religion, there is an element of the supernatural varying with the influence of pure reason over its devotees'(Eastman in Mcdonald: 2009).
If one assumes a set of rules for governance at the system level, the expectation is that the language of the rules is subject to periodic challenges and interpretation.
In such a system (society), a deviation by an individual/group from the norm that keeps the peace through the use of non-descript language will lead to conflict. The same is true for agreements at the international level as well as understanding at the individual level.
At the individual level, the agreements are sealed by the mutual stirring of hearts; a seduction of the twin companion of understanding and knowledge.(There is of course, the gentleman’s agreement).
‘As a lamp that does not go out by night’; the return to God, as settled identity, is central to most faiths. This settled identity is a gravitation toward inner peace, but there are often conflicts due to lack of knowledge and language interpretive discord.
Yet the wind neither seeks recognition nor earthly aid for strength!