{"id":34066,"date":"2023-11-12T21:05:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T05:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=34066"},"modified":"2023-11-12T21:09:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T05:09:26","slug":"antidote-to-chaos-shepherds-management-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/antidote-to-chaos-shepherds-management-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Antidote to Chaos: Shepherd’s Management Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

Books, and the authors that write them, do not always live up to my expectations. Eagerly I jumped into <\/span>Spell Bound<\/span><\/i>, anticipating greater insight into Jungian psychology, archetypes, and the unconscious coming to greater consciousness.[1] Some of these discoveries were made, but as I came into the second half of the book, something in my spirit took a shift. Reading came to a standstill when I came to the section on Tarot cards. My intellectual and academic curiosity needed to be put in check. Lieberman takes psychology and integrates mystical and transcendent practices, proposing supernatural benefits to the reader.\u00a0 If Lieberman could only hear what I have been thinking: \u201cLieb, Lieb, Lieb (short for Lieberman)…you’re losing me here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The respect Lieberman gained when reading <\/span>The Molecule of More<\/span><\/i> diminished quickly with <\/span>Spell Bound<\/span><\/i>. In this blog I will challenge some of Lieberman\u2019s: <\/span>Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind<\/span><\/i>, and establish some best practices for thinking, looking to Psalm 23 for wisdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author\u2019s Warning<\/b><\/p>\n

Dangerous\u2013 this is how Lieberman describes having different \u201cstates of consciousness.\u201d [2]\u00a0 A reader\u2019s caution is warranted: \u201cMeddling in the world of the unconscious is dangerous, as it can unleash a torrent of uncontrollable passions, irrational convictions, and destructive impulses that can upend a person\u2019s life.\u201d [3]\u00a0 Why fully apprehend what the author is trying to communicate when this may be the result?\u00a0 I agree with St. Augustine who \u201cobserved when he taught: Unless you believe, you shall not understand.\u201d [4]\u00a0 I do not believe in Tarot cards and so I do not anticipate understanding them. Why give this my time and attention?\u00a0 Isaiah 65:2 warns, \u201cAll day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Shepherd\u2019s Practice in Protection<\/b><\/p>\n

What can we learn from sheep and shepherding when it comes to science, magic, and the unconscious mind?\u00a0 Come to find out, we can learn a lot! My devotional reading recently has been: <\/span>A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 <\/span><\/i>by Phillip Keller. [5] Considering what might be Jordan Peterson’s \u201cantidote to chaos\u201d and examining what Daniel Lieberman discusses in what \u201cleads to transcendence,\u201d consulting Keller\u2019s shepherds management practices provides alternative insights. [6] Is everything we consider intellectually profitable for our souls or mentally enlightening for our minds?\u00a0 2 Corinthians 10:5 states: \u201cWe demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.\u201d We must discern what is not the knowledge of God. I cannot put my faith in Lieberman\u2019s assertion: \u201cTo understand the hidden parts of the psyche, we have to go back to a more ancient form of magic, perhaps the most ancient of all: Communicating with other worldly spirits and, sometimes, being possessed by them.\u201d [7] There are several Biblical warnings against those who practice magic arts in the Bible (Revelation 9:21, 18:23, 21:8) . I do not want to communicate with worldly spirits and I definitely do not want to be possessed by them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Antidote for our Minds<\/b><\/p>\n

Phillip Keller, a sheep owner and rancher, provides context for Psalm 23:5, which says \u201cThou anointest my head with oil.\u201d\u00a0 Nose flies are among the worst irritants and potential killers to sheep and the shepherd must provide \u201can antidote to their heads.\u201d [8] This antidote is an oil that must be applied to the sheep\u2019s noses.\u00a0 An \u201cantidote to chaos\u201d might best be described in these preventative measures which a shepherd takes to protect their sheep.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do we allow our minds to entertain?\u00a0 Our thoughts can be like the nose flies who lay their eggs in moist sheep noses which progressively enter the flesh of the sheep, driving them mad and to death. Keller also describes another antidote that is applied to the sheep to prevent scabs on sheep\u2019s heads. [9] Keller draws the parallel of the sheep\u2019s need to protect their heads to the necessity for believers in Christ to protect their minds. \u201cIn the Christian life, most of our contamination by the world, by sin, that which would defile and disease us spiritually, comes through our minds.\u201d [10] While Lieberman suggests reading Tarot cards for personal transcendence, I believe my mind will be best served by not entertaining this contamination.<\/span><\/p>\n

My prayer is to have a mind that is alert and fully sober (1 Peter 1:13) and governed by the Spirit which is life and peace. (Romans 8:6)<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0_______________________________________________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Daniel Z. Lieberman,<\/span> Spell Bound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind<\/span><\/i>, Dallas: Ben Bella Books, 2022, p.3,<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Ibid. p.8<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Ibid. p.3<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] Michael Polanyi, <\/span>The Tacit Dimension<\/span><\/i>, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966, p.61<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Phillip Keller, <\/span>A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23<\/span><\/i>, Minneapolis: World Wide, 1970<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Daniel Z. Lieberman,<\/span> Spell Bound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind<\/span><\/i>, Dallas: Ben Bella Books, 2022, p.6; Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos<\/i>, Canada: Random House, 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Ibid. p.3<\/span><\/p>\n

[8] Phillip Keller, <\/span>A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23<\/span><\/i>, Minneapolis: World Wide, 1970, p.116<\/span><\/p>\n

[9] Ibid. p.119<\/span><\/p>\n

[10] Ibid. p.120<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Books, and the authors that write them, do not always live up to my expectations. Eagerly I jumped into Spell Bound, anticipating greater insight into Jungian psychology, archetypes, and the unconscious coming to greater consciousness.[1] Some of these discoveries were made, but as I came into the second half of the book, something in my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2515,2916,2915],"class_list":["post-34066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01-lieberman","tag-psalm-23","tag-spell-bound","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34068,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34066\/revisions\/34068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}