As we have been working through ideas of power, position,
and politics, I have been wading through muddy waters that are both confusing
and overly complex to me. Somehow, while
writing previous reflections, this idea has become twisted and convoluted in my
mind. As I wrestle with an un-posted
reflection on what it meant to use power as a supervisor in a secular job, I
realized that we can't necessarily parse apart how we use power and our desire
to manipulate or control certain circumstances.
While we are always inviting a response like Jesus, while we
seek to use power to empower others, while we use the power that we have to
serve others, we can easily make a case that we are still seeking to control or
manipulate circumstances for our own ends, to get a certain response, or lead
people in a certain direction.
I think we carefully need to observe how we use power in our
positions of authority so we do not become people who actively seek to
manipulate, dominate, or oppress those under our power. However, this becomes complicated in many
instances of daily life. I find myself
moving into a time of development and reflection regarding further implications
of this idea. We'll move on in the coming weeks to various posts, leaving this
power idea behind for a season.
No comments:
Post a Comment