The System

For some reason the concept of “The System” gets a bad reputation. We “game the system,” and we don’t want to be seen as “part of the system.” However, if you find yourself part of a system that works, it is immensely satisfying. That is why I feel so content in my current job – I can see my place in the system more clearly than in my other jobs, in this case the “system” being a university that existed for more than a century before I was born and will hopefully continue long after I am gone. I am a very small part of the system, and it is unlikely anyone will commemorate me, but I can see how the things I do help keep the system working as intended.

So now to apply this concept to the cosmos without being excommunicated for straying too far into Buddhist thought (and this has nothing to do with reincarnation, I promise you). Sunday evening Rich related a conversation he had with someone who was denying intelligent design, and he explained to the other person that the universe is a system that God created and allows to unfold in its own time. I said that makes sense to me, since it has taken me years to see where God is going with the things He does in my own life. It really resonated with a feeling I have always had, but that has gotten stronger since I got the garden plot, that I am interconnected to everything. Am I “one with the cosmos”? Not exactly; I am not one with the radishes in my garden plot, but we are deeply connected. We are all part of the system that God created, and which He generally lets work itself out, although He clearly steps in to change things for His own reasons, which we cannot know. And then it hit me: so much of the unhappiness in modern society is from people who do not see how they are part of the System that God created, perhaps because they don’t believe in God, or perhaps because they are so out of touch with nature that they can’t see their connection to the whole created world. I have never heard anyone explain things this way, but I believe that is what many religions mean by “gaining enlightenment” and “being one with everything” – it’s when you see and accept your place in the System.

And then I realized why I am Catholic, which is a question I often get asked. (Being a Bad Catholic and all that.) Every system must have rules, and the Catholic Church has straightforward rules to deal with issues in the System. Did you sin? Go to confession. Do you need to know what to do to make the System run smoothly? Follow the precepts of the Church. Also, I deeply believe that God is Trinitarian, and that the Second Person came down into the System, which is, after all, what the created world is. Maybe there are rules I don’t get (like why does Mary have to be Ever-Virgin?) and others I feel are missing (like how to treat nonhuman life with respect), but in my view the Catholic Church has the clearest rules for how to do your part in the System. And that is why I am so full of joy, because I understand my place in the System and what I need to do to keep it working.

Famous Hat