PEACE AND HARMONY IN 2007 AND BEYOND: PART 1

A TROIKA AND THREE I’S

“Troika” is a Russian word with two pregnant meanings. The oldest is both real and mythological and refers to a means of transportation – typically a multi-passenger sleigh drawn by three strong horses. Thus it refers to a winter activity, and the image is of a cold, cold Russian day, passengers bundled in fur-lined parkas and heavy coats, and three powerful horses galloping across the snow.

The second is newer, less exhilarating, and unpleasant. The Soviet Union used triumvirates, NKVD troikas, to mete out extrajudicial punishments of anti-Soviet elements beginning in 1918 but more particularly in trials during the Great Purge. (Consult Wikipedia and “troika” for more.) Nothing that follows has this negative meaning! The number “three” was said to be the minimum for voting and decision-making.

However, I do invoke a triumvirate of people who have differing specializations, three writers of recent books. Those differences lead, surprisingly, to convergent meanings and are therefore worth our attention. That troika-style convergence is what I want you to realize.

Finally, I will conclude with a new troika – one vital for charting paths into the future – and the above title refers to A FUTURE-ORIENTED TROIKA THAT CAN LEAD US TO PEACE AND HARMONY in our conflict-ridden world.

THE AUTHORS AND THEIR BOOKS

The first is another in the well-known series by Richard Florida, this one titled THE FLIGHT OF THE CREATIVE CLASS: THE NEW GLOBAL COMPETITION FOR TALENT (HarperCollins, New York, 2005, 326 p.). His book is catalogued in three areas, all relating to the United States: intellectual capital, creative ability, and technological innovations. Florida discusses the features that typify cities and regions that draw creative talent so magnetically that economic growth results far more effectively than other places. Post-materialistic attitudes of yearning for job satisfaction, intellectual development, and personal sense of worth become the factors that drive choices of the most talented about where and how to live – anywhere in the world. One feature of these high growth areas is a surprise to many people. He encapsulates the importance of the features found in vigorous regions in his three “T’s:” Technology, Tolerance, and Talent.

The second is Hal Taussig’s, A NEW PLACE TO LIVE: PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIANITY AT THE GRASS ROOTS (Polebridge Press, Santa Rosa, CA, 2006, 203 p.) He is a less recognized author of three previous books who is a theologian, minister, and lecturer and writes from a scholarly devotion to a developing movement in the United States. From traveling nationwide and a year of researching, he found, describes, and lists a growing number of these progressive churches (His incomplete list is of 1,000 spread among most mainline denominations including Roman Catholic ones and independent churches.) He characterizes this group with a clear set of features that belie the diversity of their origins.

The third is by a prolific writer for the past 25 years, Ken Wilbur: INTEGRAL SPIRITUALITY: A STARTLING NEW ROLE FOR RELIGION IN THE MDOERN AND POSTMODERN WORLD (Integral Books, Boston, 2006, 313 p.) His beginnings were in biochemistry, but he soon turned to philosophy, publishing his first and important book, The Spectrum of Consciousness, in his mid-twenties. It was followed by more than twenty volumes. His 2006 volume summaries and extends his concepts that are based on an extraordinary knowledge of world religions, an ability to integrate the world of science and theology, and a grasp of philosophy, all applied to the present and also projected into the future with its need for a practical perception of spirituality and a pragmatic philosophy of hope, broadly applied.

In summary, this is the Troika of authors, one a theologian, another studying economic development, and the third a philosopher. In my next two postings, it is the “I” words that will be discussed, each of which leads to a pathway for human progress. We will find valuable similarities in their thinking, findings, and conclusions.