Singular Focus: Part 3

Conformity kills one's ability to fully express their unique purpose in life. With religion, too often people are urged to conform to what is considered the norm, or the traditionally defined boundaries of acceptable thoughts, feelings or behaviours. Even outside of religion- family, career, and social conformity dull the highlights of individual expression. Tell me, on which of these streets you would prefer to go for a walk?:

or,

Conformity, in human behaviour as well as in construction, is mind numbing and uninspiring. The reason old neighbourhoods are so much more interesting to walk through is because they imitate nature much better than modern planned neighbourhoods. Nature, as in a walk in the woods, is a study in individualities all working together in harmony: the pine doesn't strive to be a poplar, the chickadee doesn't bang it's head on a tree like a woodpecker. Trees that seemed hopelessly broken, miraculously heal all by themselves. Fallen trees rot and become the home of moss, plants and saplings. Everything, at every stage, has a role to play. In this clip below from the movie "Cloud Atlas" (one of my all time favorites) the father-in-law represents conformity to social standards. In this case, it is/was the supposed "naturalness" of slavery. Society thought of slavery as a proper and natural thing, even the majority of religious people embraced the idea. Hard to explain the context of this clip, but the Asian woman in the white hall is the reincarnation of the girl in the green dress, and the official overseeing the fate of the Asian woman is the reincarnation of her Father. The girl in the green dress is having a premonition of what will happen to her in a future incarnation :

We all have this father-in-law voice within our own heads. "What good will my own little efforts do to change this or that immense problem I see in the world around me?" No, we will not have a seat at the banquet of conformity if we chose to speak out against the world that conformity has built.

Interacting with other people should be like a walk in the woods, not like a walk in a Los Angeles suburb built with strict cookie cutter conformity. Everyone has a niche. We are all living, growing things. We all break and heal in different ways. We are all fed by different experiences and interests. By expecting conformity from others or by conforming to the expectations of others, we turn a vibrant colourful world into one dulled down into a few shades of grey.

This is what Paul was talking about when he said:

1Co 12:4-22 There are different spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.  (5)  There are different ways of serving, and yet the same Lord is served.  (6)  There are different types of work to do, but the same God produces every gift in every person...  (11)There is only one Spirit who does all these things by giving what God wants to give to each person.  (12)  For example, the body is one unit and yet has many parts. As all the parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  (13)  By one Spirit we were all immersed into one body. Whether we are Jewish or Greek, slave or free, God gave all of us one Spirit to drink.  (14)  As you know, the human body is not made up of only one part, but of many parts.  (15)  Suppose a foot says, "I'm not a hand, so I'm not part of the body!" Would that mean it's no longer part of the body?  (16)  Or suppose an ear says, "I'm not an eye, so I'm not a part of the body!" Would that mean it's no longer part of the body?  (17)  If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell?  (18)  So God put each and every part of the body together as he wanted it.  (19)  How could it be a body if it only had one part?  (20)  So there are many parts but one body.  (21)  An eye can't say to a hand, "I don't need you!" Or again, the head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you!"  (22)  The opposite is true. The parts of the body that we think are weaker are the ones we really need.

...and for a slightly different angle on the idea from Chuang Tzu:

Have you not heard how a bird from the sea was blown inshore and landed outside the capital of Lu? The Prince ordered a solemn reception, offered the sea bird wine in the sacred precinct, called for musicians to play the compositions of shun, slaughtered cattle to nourish it: Dazed with symphonies, the unhappy sea bird died of despair. How should you treat a bird? As yourself or as a bird? Ought not a bird to nest in deep woodland or fly over meadow and marsh? Ought it not to swim on river and pond, feed on eels and fish, fly in formation with other waterfowl, and rest in the reeds? Bad enough for a sea bird to be surrounded by men and frightened by their voices! That was not enough! They killed it with music! Play all the symphonies you like on the marshlands of Thung-Ting. The birds will fly away in all directions; The animals will hide; The fish will dive to the bottom; But men will gather around to listen. Water is for fish and air for men. Natures differ, and needs with them. Hence the wise men of old did not lay down one measure for all.

-Merton, Thomas. The Way of Chuang Tzu (Second Edition) . New Directions. Kindle Edition.-

This too is what Bono from U2 sings about in the song "Where The Streets Have No Name" He protests against conformity. He advocates for interaction in the ways(streets) which do not need pre-approval(names) from some authority before we can take a stroll down them. This is the video for the song which was not staged. How perfect to protest "the acceptance of dulled senses brought about by conformity" from on top of a Liquor Store in a "less than delightful" part of downtown LA:

Bono: "I'll show you a place... high on the desert plain... where the streets have no name"

Thanks Bono.