The Little Angle Diagram
The Basic Issue
The way in which the two sections of the Protestant Church are most commonly depicted graphically is a straight-line continuum from "left" (the mainline Churches) to "right" (the conservative evangelical churches). This may be useful for some purposes, but I find it really is not that useful in helping to bridge a communications gap between a person in one section and the information they are unable to hear but desperately need from the other section.I have found in the past few years that if one uses an angle diagram (matrix) from mathematics with an x and y axis, the diagram is both informative regarding the basic issues and helpful in moving people forward in their lives.
For my purposes, I use the upper right-hand quadrant of the matrix only. Some people have noted that the math model actually has a full form, constructed by a vertical and horizontal line crossing in the middle of each, forming four quadrants. They feel that the use of the full four quadrants would actually be more accurate (and helpful) in that negative humanity (evil action) and negative spirituality (evil spirit) could be represented. That is true, perhaps, but sometimes the truth one is trying to convey can be lost in the whole truth if one attempts to convey too much detail in a model.
The Angle-Diagram Model
This helpful model for discussing the problem with individuals, as well as explaining the bridging process to colleagues, is the angle graph used in mathematics. According to this model, any point on it can be found by plotting two co-ordinates on the x and y-axis.If you make the y (vertical)axis represent spirituality and the x (horizontal) axis represent humanity, then movement out from the "0" point on either axis can represent a person's growth or maturity along the human or spiritual plane - from totally unspiritual and inhumane to a rich spiritual life and a full humanity. This graph has the following strengths:
- It allows the individual to self-identify where they are on he "map", where they have been in their lives, and where they wish to head.
- People can identify where their home group is located.
- People can indicate where the leader of that group is at, and where both have been in their journey.
- The model had the added benefit of "objectifying" a discussion so that one can talk about any aspect of the social reality "out there" without feeling in the least intimidated.
- Perhaps its strongest point is that it enables one to indicate movement (trajectory), which is, after all, the point when talking to someone who is "stuck" in life, or "lost" in a bewildering social space around them. The "angle diagram", or matrix, is far superior in this regard than the usual "left-right straight line continuum".
navigation
>