Speaker & Worship Leader:- Kurt Payne
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Kurt Payne © 28 July 2024
“..you cannot attain spiritual intelligence through numbers..” was mentioned more than once during Barbara Thomborson’s service in May. This week Kurt looks more into this tiny facet while exploring a model of a whole person – no calculators required!
Looking at a painting of a tree
Drawing a picture of a tree we would draw a trunk, add some branches and pop some leaves on.
For an artist the gaps and space between the leaves is more important and can be bigger than the tree itself. The shadow and length of the shadow help give size and weight. Feel the shade and the coolness along the path. Imagine the birds, animals and insects living in it. Hear the sound of rustling, the smell of the sap, of the composting leaves. Source of food, provider of oxygen, of shelter and warmth as wood. A concept for family lineage, unitarians may have even had a phone tree.
This type of lateral thinking is needed when we start to look at the model of a human.
Looking at a picture of a man
What makes a man Scottish, his kilt, broad shoulders.
The atoms in your body replace themselves about every two years.
We can use the organ to impersonate other instruments, the oboe, cello and trumpet. A persons voice can fill a space and be transmitted over distance and time.
Everything you have ever touched, breathed, eaten, drunk is part of who you are.
Your smell, the way you walk. The space you occupy.
How you set up a room, carving of the wood. Looking inside garments to tell who made something.
Looking at the mind
It’s the software that performs bodily functions. The conscious mind you are aware of and the unconscious mind.
Something that can grow with thinking and learning, can be trained. Is the processing of data.
It can expand into space – imagine putting the key into your front door.
It can expand into the future – Imagine a castle and opening that door.
Parts of your mind can be stored, your memory. If you can’t remember we write things down.
An example is the Pythagorean theorem “In a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse side is equal to the sum of squares of the other two sides“ which has been used since around 500BC
Slicing up the picture of the man, your mind is just as big as your body.
Looking at emotions
The feeling wheel model by Dr Gloria Wilcox is a map for our emotions, divided into six parts, handy to help find nuance to express.
An example of huge collective emotion on March 15, 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings Brenton Tarrant murdered 51 people. The worst massacre in NZ history.
Emotions make up an even larger part of our model of a person, 5/3rds the size of a body.
Follow this link for more on how to use The Feeling Wheel.
Looking at spirit
Another large part of our model – 5/3rds the size of the body.
Two people can be very much the same but there would be a difference if one lived with a spirit of abundance and another a spirit of scarcity.
Enthusiasm from the Greek “to be inspired or possessed by a god” “to be closer to god” think of the Unitarian “our god” The part of you that stops in the middle of your walk to take in the beauty and awe of a sunset, that knows when spontaneity is needed, either for yourself, to help others or just for the joy of it.
Trust and integrity – things you can know and feel straight away.
Your core values – vision and principles such as Interdependence, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, Generosity, and Justice. Knowing what motivates you. Acts from those principles and deep beliefs.
Sees the larger relationships, patterns, family, with the earth, connections, has a sense of belonging.
Compassion and empathy. Values other people for their differences and their role in society. Realizing their place in the world, humility. Can stand back, reframe, meditate to see a bigger picture.
“great, another opportunity for personal growth” when faced with adversity. Feeling called upon to serve, to give something back – grace. A Sense of humor that can be inherited.
20% of this model can be measured.
80% can’t be measured ..you cannot attain spiritual intelligence through numbers.
2-4-6 traditional kiwi shortbread
2oz icing sugar
4oz salted butter
6oz plain flour
Mix by hand or food processor into a smooth dough. Cut into shapes. Bake 30min at 150°C.
“Perfect” shortbread
50-75g caster or granulated sugar
150g unsalted butter
225g plain flour
1/4tsp pure vanilla essence or substitute 20g of the sugar for vanilla sugar.
Mix by hand or food processor into a smooth dough. Cut into shapes. Bake 20-25min at 180°C.
Meditation / Conversation starter
- What part of you would you like to be around in 80 years time?
- How are you here out of love or out of fear?