One of Wink's strengths is his acknowledgement that we are surrounded by Powers (similar to the archy idea from the previous week). In the New Testament and perhaps up until the Enlightenment when rationality gained precedence over religion, these Powers were called angels, demons, principalities, powers and thrones. Wink contends that people had an understanding that everything that existed had some kind of accompanying energy. He brings this understanding to present-day entities such as businesses, school, sports team - any social reality - and asks us to see that each of these entities has a unique spirituality. They have outer forms, but they also have an inner spirituality. In fact, he says that there is nothing, from DNA to the United Nations, that does not have God at its core. That's a hopeful view.
Wink offers a corrective for those of us who are inclined to
see certain entities as bad and others as good. For example, I'm fine
to join in with those who slam big business and corporations as being
evil. But Wink invites a more rational response. He says:
What's he saying? I think he's saying that the Powers can be used for both good and bad. What seems most important initially is that we're aware that when we're at home, at work, involved in anything, we are engaging in a Power. We can be part of perpetuating it for better or worse, or we can be part of bringing awareness and consciousness to the Power.
Here's a quote that says it better: "The gospel is not a message of personal salvation from the world, but a message of a world transfigured, right down to its basic structures. Redemption means actually being liberated from the oppression of the Powers, being forgiven for one's own sin and for complicity with the Powers, and being engaged in liberating the Powers themselves from their bondage to idolatry."
We also talked about how when we have a problem which inevitably involves a Power in some way, the solution to the problem has to come from outside of the Power structure. For example, we've been talking about the interesting and sometimes unhealthy dynamics of some of our families in community lately. In considering Dave and I, we can live in a fused bond where one of the dynamics is my compulsion to control him and his to seek my acceptance. As long as we're drunk with our compulsions we can't free ourselves from this fusion. But when we're informed by something outside of ourselves - which could take various forms such as service or an awareness of being known and loved outside of the spousal relationship - then we have a better chance of relating as people rather than dependents.