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Exorcising business

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 31: JANUARY 31, 2022]

Exorcising business

Mark 5:1-20. Jesus exorcises a demoniac; the crowd asks Jesus to leave their town afterwards

The 365 Days with the Lord Liturgical Companion of St. Pauls Philippines offers important context why the townsfolk asked Jesus to leave town after He drives an unclean spirit out of a possessed man: the unclean spirits were said to possess swines, then the swines drowned with the unclean spirits. The swines were the primary resource of business for the townsfolk.

The importance of material needs as the foundation of integral human development cannot be understated. Yet, so far, this account, together with the account of merchants doing business in the church might show that Jesus condemns doing business.

Is the conduct of business inherently bad? Perhaps what Jesus is mad about is the notion that the purpose of business is merely to profit; “greed is good”.

Approximately 2022 years later, I think the challenge for us is to perform a “business exorcism” of some sort, to drive away unclean motives in the way we conduct business. The beauty of business is that it could be viable and fair system of exchange, a mechanism that can produce win-win scenarios among stakeholders.

Frankly, I do not understand (and perhaps may never significantly understand) spiritual exorcisms, akin to the miracles of Jesus. But the invitation seems to be for us to cleanse and renew our view of business and our professions.

And the virtue that could exorcise us from greed is temperance.

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Truth-tellers are rejected at their hometown

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 30: JANUARY 30, 2022]

Truth-tellers are rejected at their hometown

Luke 4:21-30. Jesus is rejected at Nazareth

Culture and norms are powerful means to pass on good traditions from generation to generation. However, organizations and society should always adapt to an ever-changing (i.e., indeterministic) environment. Thus, we need truth-tellers who are willing to be uncomfortable and share insights that may be deemed as “contrarian” against accepted and comfortable norms.

This is the cross that Christian managers must bear, and this is doubly difficult in a collectivist society like the Philippines, where we’d rather not ruffle feathers if we can tolerate it. Personally, I find that my tendency is to overprice the cost of ruffling feathers versus giving a more direct opinion on controversial issues. This is a challenge I must embrace as an educator and as a practicing Catholic, and I confess, it is so uncomfortable to do so (hello, fellow overthinkers!)

The truth is not incompatible with pain and suffering. Lies and bullshit are also not incompatible with comfort and pleasure. But pain and pleasure are mostly on the realm of sense-experiences; our challenge is to engage in deeper reflection, discernment, and insight.

Like an athlete who pays with literal blood, sweat, and tears, to be the best physical version of one’s self, we should be whole persons, who pays with goodness despite conditions of suffering.

Virtue, it is.

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“Gigil” versus a sense of peace

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 29: JANUARY 29, 2022]

“Gigil” versus a sense of peace

Mark 4:35-41. Quiet, be still!

Gigil. Overexcitedness. Angst. In high school, I thought (and maybe felt.. Thanks, puberty and hormones!) that this is the mindset when doing course work, basketball training, or other activities I find valuable or potentially flow-inducing.

As I continue to mature, I realize that the best state of mind is that of peacefulness; stillness; mindfulness; presence. Some would characterize this as zen; others, an “insight state of mind”. In a sense, maybe this is parallel to or adjacent with flow, where we dissolve our ego and focus on the task at hand. Eliminating distractions; only our thoughts and actions matter at a specific time. From a spiritual perspective, perhaps this is the Holy Spirit imbuing us with a consuming fire.

In today’s world, we are always looking to supercharge our senses. But we also need to rest, to step back, and to focus on where we are, not what storms distract us from being centered.

Peace be with you and your spirit. Such a powerful prayer and greeting. Peace and serenity goes together with courage and wisdom. Accepting uncontrollables, changing our controllables, and insight to discern which is which.

In a world of instant gratification and hasty judgements, we need to relearn how to delay gratification and suspend judgement.

Maybe then, peace can be with us.

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The grit and resilience of seeds

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 28: JANUARY 28: 2022]

The grit and resilience of seeds

Mark 4:26-34. The parable of the mustard seed

For seeds to grow into bountiful plants, the seeds must accept its entanglement with the design of ecosystems and the presence of calamaties (suffering). When we look at seeds, it is difficult to imagine that they could be lush plants or gigantic trees.

Perhaps the invitation for us is to embrace our destiny, who we ought to be based on what is natural in our human nature: a pure desire to know, grow, and pursue the good.

From the habits we build and our entanglement with the world, somehow, as if miraculously, our best version could emerge.

How beautiful would it be if businesses and organizations become instruments of accompaniment for us seeds seeking to integrally develop?

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Virtuous cycles

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 27: JANUARY 27: 2022]

Virtuous cycles

Mark 4:21-25. Jesus continues discussing the importance of understanding the parables

“To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

When I first heard this passage during my elementary school days, I thought: parang ang biased naman ni Lord! (The Lord seems biased!)

I now realize that this is an extension of the parable of the sower. To the more fertile soil – bounty. Good leads to more good.

This passage is also NOT about greed, as in a greedy capitalist acquiring more for the sake of more.

This passage is about choosing good, building a habit and character of being good. Being virtuous and designing virtuous cycles. Reflection and discernment are also forms of virtuous cycles. As Lonergan explained in his general empirical method, the process of iterative understanding, judgement, and action allows us to accumulate insights, which eventually leads to wisdom.

The moment we stop pursuing goodness is the moment we refuse to grow our talents. This is when we give up opportunities for growth.

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Have we fertilized our soil so that seeds can grow?

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 26: JANUARY 26, 2022]

Have we fertilized our soil so that seeds can grow?

Mark 4:1-20. The Parable of the Sower

Finally, a gospel featuring a parable! Two verses stood out to me the most:

Mark 4:12 (the response of Jesus to those questioning Him about the parables): …so that they may look and see but not perceive, and hear and listen but not understand, in order that they may not be converted and forgiven.

Mark 4: 20: …but those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.

What I love about the parables is that they seem simple stories yet very profound. They are gifts that keep on giving. I have heard the parables since I was a child, yet every time I hear them, new meanings and insights keep on emerging.

It is as if we are the soil where the Sower plants seeds, and we are in a continuing journey of enriching ourselves, fertilizing ourselves, to make sure that we internalize moral and spiritual lessons.

The Mark 4:12 passage seems like Jesus critiquing those who only pay attention to the appearances, the apparent or surface-level meanings, of the parables He shares. It is an invitation — a challenge even — to pause, reflect, and savor the meanings and insights that arise from His stories.

The challenge with business and politics is that we seem to always prefer the low-hanging fruits, pleasing stakeholders and citizens with short-term spectacles (i.e., bullshit). But isn’t it our collective responsibility to fertilize our soil? Enriching and fertilizing soil seems an analogy for the struggles we have to go through for us to grow.

Maybe we have overemphasized pleasures and spectacles too much at the expense of growth pains towards authentic and integral development.

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Pro-claiming

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 25: JANUARY 25, 2022]

Pro-claiming

Mark 16:15-18. Proclaim the Gospel to every creature

A definition of “proclamation” that seems resonates with me is: “a clear declaration of something”. There is clarity and importance inherent to a proclamation. The act of declaration means there is emphasis, a certain kind of resolve.

To me, I distinguish proclamation against proselytizing or in-your-face preaching. I find the latter ineffective in enriching the faith, in contrast to the stories and actions that Jesus exemplified. Thus, I frame proclaiming as “pro-claiming”, as in attesting to one’s claims and by extension, living and embodying one’s claims about the Good and the Truth.

Jesus sought the marginalized. Some would say that the Apostles were not very wise nor intelligent akin to Solomon. Yet, Jesus spoke in parables and questions that invited reflection, discernment, and discourse.

The parables are invitations to make sense of our thinking and feeling, to arrive at the Truth and Primary Insight through our own personal journeys. Thus, to effectively evangelize is to proclaim, as in to invite others to reflect on the purpose of our lives. Reflection goes beyond the sense-experience or the empirical; it requires the courage to appropriate one’s self and acknowledge our tendencies, desires, and goals in life.

To proclaim the gospel is to dialogue with each other, not to shove misinterpretations of the Word down an innocent’s throat.

Imagine if businesses and organizations provide services that go beyond hedonistic pleasures or alleviation of psychological pain; a value proposition that allows not just functional and emotional values, but even spiritual, transcendent, or at least purposeful meaning-making. Imagine advertisements that does not make you feel insecure about your appearance, but rather, allows you to treasure your loved ones through creative messaging.

As a businessperson or a consumer, can you imagine these? Hopefully, the answer is yes.

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Unrepentance and impenitence are unforgivable sins against the Holy Spirit

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 24: JANUARY 24, 2022]

Mark 3:22-30. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

Unrepentance and impenitence are unforgivable sins against the Holy Spirit

Ignorance is bliss; but willfull ignorance is a grave sin, a blasphemy even. Yet to seek wisdom – the Word, the Primary Insight – is to dispose ourselves of ignorance and to bear a cross of responsibility for our insights, judgements, and actions.

As someone in the academe, I am called to teach, to study, to seek insights and wisdom, although it’s a process of trial-and-error. Perhaps an educator ridding one’s self of ignorance is a call for a sort of virtuous suffering. As we know more, we’re given more, and more is expected of us. This is the sacrificial aspect of the teaching vocation.

Unrepentance and impenitence are unforgivable sins against the Holy Spirit, precisely because a person who does not repent nor does penance is not seeking forgiveness. God is both just and merciful. I do not think this is in contrast to God’s unconditional love. If we arrive at the insight that we have sinned and judged for ourselves that we need to humbly ask for forgiveness, God will grant it.

But how can we find something that we do not seek? We must embark in our own personal journey towards humility and authenticity. This is the call to reflect and discern.

Businesses blindly pursuing profits at the expense of society, fanatics prioritizing defending their idols more than holding them accountable, and preferring a narrative or a side to “win” rather than to seek the most reasonable truth – we are in danger of committing blasphemy.

Open minds and open hearts lead to the nourishing of our spirits. But we must open our minds and hearts ourselves, because He will knock, but it’s up to us whether our doors would be opened.

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Timing in Teaching

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 23: JANUARY 23, 2022]

Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21. The beginning of the Galilean ministry

Timing in Teaching

Jesus seemed to be more active with his teaching, in contrast to the previous readings where He did not want others to spread stories about Him yet. The people have begun following Him more intently.

There is indeed timing involved in teaching and fulfilling a prophecy. Perhaps prophecy is not about fortune telling nor prediction, but a recognition that a society is headed and must head towards a certain state before a change agent can bring about a desired outcome.

Maybe there are insights that are always there, but the knower is not yet ready or aware. The Word is always there, but we must seek Him.

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Out of One’s Mind

[DAILY GOSPEL INSIGHTS AND REFLECTION FOR MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION 22: JANUARY 22, 2022]

Mark 3:20-21. He is out of his mind

Out of One’s Mind

Notice these three statements:

1. Jesus is judged by his relatives and the Pharisees as “out of his mind”, for He did things that are apparently in contrast with traditional laws or norms.

2. Millennials (and the upcoming Gen Z) are judged in terms of job-hopping or prioritizing passion or purpose over profits. Our generation is out of our minds.

3. Flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers are judged for going against scientific evidence about the planet Earth and the efficacy of vaccines. Society judges them as being out of their minds.

What’s the difference between the three statements? For me, the first and second statements show Jesus and the new generation (Jesus, infallible; generations, very fallible) engaging in AUTHENTIC DISCERNMENT, oriented towards what is truly good. The third statement seems born out of preferring a narrative, sticking to it, and not wanting to be wrong.

The insight: we can apparently appear as insane to others, but Jesus and the people who leave a coherent train of thought (or audit trail) means a predisposition to be subjected to constructive dialogue; about the TRUTH, WHAT is right rather than “who” is right.

Only the Word is always True; we humans iteratively correct our fallible understanding and judgements.

A narrative that does not subject to review and correction is the metaphorical cyanide cool-aid; a narrative that corrects itself and adapts to context based on evidence – perhaps this is providence.

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