oscillate

The Dynamics of Dependence
as shown in the Reed Oscillation Theory

Let us look at ourselves and where we are now - who we are, men and women, how we got here; physically, what we are wearing, what we ate today are some starter questions to reflect on. To be part of this civilized society we rely on many other people. Without exaggeration it would be millions of people from many other countries who have contributed to the situation we are now experiencing. In many different ways we are dependent upon their efforts as they in turn may be dependent upon our efforts. When we trace this dependence to our parents and their parents, it extends the complexity of this dependence on others for our very existence.

I suggest it is in the nature of our being to be in dependent relationships. These dependent relations are always changing as we grow up, meet different people, do new things, but they indicate that whether we are aware of it or not we are always dependent. To take it further, we are dependent on the air we breathe and the environment we inhabit.

For Christians this dependence is tracked down to the origins of life and the world in which we live - the creator whom we call God.

We offer the working hypothesis that our life can be viewed as a process, through different ways, of depending upon God and that conditions of well-being are contingent upon how we manage our dependent relations upon God in the successive stages of our life. The manner in which we do this will reflect on our relations with others. The more we acknowledge that we are always within such dependent relations while we are alive, the greater the incentive to face up to working with dependent relations, instead of trying to run away from them, or denying them.

Religion is the means by which people struggle to come to terms with their dependence upon God and we further hypothesize that God has taken the initiative in engaging in that human struggle.

In that struggle we experience love, hate, judgment, fear, attraction, rejection, pain, weakness, joy, beauty, hope as we go on living in our actual world. The value of a religious faith (ie dependence on God) is how it leads us to find meaning in all this diversity of human experience in a constructive way as we grow in responsibility, maturity, sophistication and wisdom, with other people.

The faith in God which Jesus Christ pioneered for human beings asserts that God is personal. God loves us, guides us, protects us, judges us, and through Jesus himself enters into human life to deliver us from the consequences of our own selfish actions and behaviour.

On the basis of this reasoning, we propose a dynamic model of human experience which shows how we can practically manage our dependent relations with God, and through that our day-to-day relations with others. The model predicates four modes of dependence which successively merge with one another in each phase of a recurring process.

By using the expression "to manage our dependent relations with God", we are asserting that, where each mode is managed functionally it can lead to the management of the next mode functionally, and so on, so that the experience of dependence leads to a satisfying/real engagement with the world at every level. The conditions for such management are given by the interaction between the human being and the Trinitarian God of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit as represented in the Christian Scriptures.

The four modes can be designated as

* extra-dependence
* transformation to intra-dependence
* intra-dependence
* regression to extra-dependence

By 'extra-dependence' is meant that experience of God as "the Other"; where 'extra' means 'outside'. It refers to the transcendent God - the Father, about whom it is said God is 'a consuming fire'. Into this predicament comes the Son in the person of Jesus to show the Father also as the lover of humanity. Just as the Son took human flesh and became one with us, we can, through Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, become one with God, exemplified in the 'memorial' of his death and resurrection in feeding upon the Body and Blood in the Holy Communion, signifying the forgiveness of sin. The functional management of dependence in this mode is responding to God's gracious initiative in Jesus Christ by faith in him - that is, belief in the work of Christ and in union with him. Faith in God is the biblical version of accepting one's dependence on God. Absence of belief signifies unawareness of that state of dependence or even denial of it.

The second mode, 'transformation to intra-dependence', follows in experience. The union with God through Jesus Christ is confirmed through the coming and indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the 'believer'. The mode of extra-dependence is in the inward experience, in the mind and heart. This mode is where the inwardness of faith is energised so that attention is now directed externally to the behaviour which reflects that inner union. This is the process of managing dependence on God to express actually and authentically the 'reality' of the new life of faith.

The management of dependence evokes a tension between a false idealization of the state of the believer, and the call to engage with the external realities in all its inadequacies, ordinariness and obstacles. In this mode people discern the needs of others in a similar mode to share in this management, to keep their feet on the ground, to be strengthened by each other as they hear and understand the call to express the fruits of their faith towards the world. This is a mode of development and learning.

This merges with the third mode of 'intra-dependence', where 'intra' means 'inner'. Here God dwells within, internalized. The management of dependence is seen in behaviour which outwardly is fully engaged in the functions of everyday existence. Whereas in extra-dependence behaviour was to participate in the rituals of the mystery of God characterized by worship, in intra-dependence the behaviour is to participate in the activities of the world, the secular. In this mode the values of love, truth, justice and hope which were full of meaning in the extra-dependent mode, now find actual expression in actual situations. The challenges arising from these values give the energy to manage dependence in the intra-dependent mode.

Whereas the perspective in the extra-dependent mode is on the Church as the Body of Christ, in this mode the focus is on God's work in the world - the Kingdom of God. The first is to discern God's work in prayer and praise, the second is to discern God's work and presence in the everyday occurrences of home, work and society. Where there has been dysfunctional management of transformation to intra-dependence, there is a carryover of limiting God's work to religious settings and no vision of God in the situations of secular society.

This process continues in the fourth mode of 'regression to dependence'. In realising the values of the Kingdom of God, we recognise our human limitations, our insensitiveness to other people with whom we live and work, our weaknesses in responding to the demands of the situation, and the inner conflict in responding to the obedience of God despite our experience of his transforming power and peace. The untidiness, the ugliness and complexity of our multiple engagements in society confuse us. Something is not right and we see and admit it is not to be blamed on others, but due to our own responses. We make mistakes in relation to them even if we love and respect them. But in ourselves, we feel anguish and pain in proportion to the way we view the significance of our failed acts. Our dependence on God has been corrupted, but if our experience in previous modes has been authentic, we accept our responsibility is in relation to our dependence on him. As we move to find a means by which we can manage our dependence, we see through our failed strengths to perceive our weakness: from being authoritative adults, we become children as we regress to dependence on the God who has created and redeemed us. The accompanying feelings of guilt are an inward reaction to our acceptance of responsibility. In the process of this regression to dependence we are conscious of the welcoming love of God, which allows us to perceive the gravity of our disobedience, our sin.

The depth we have reached in (any) previous modes of extra-dependence will be reflected in the assurance that, in the face of and in the presence of such a God a judgment, we can approach him believing in his grace and mercy as we experience the mode of extra-dependence again. Each time this happens we come from a different angle and discern the nature of our dependence on God with renewed insight.

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Diagram of the Process of Oscillation

Each phase of the oscillation process is different because it traces out the process through the four changing modes. A complete phase could take a very brief time, or it could extend over months or years. Being continuous there is no specific starting point.

The pattern of everyday life is a metaphor of the model, where night and sleep characterize the extra-dependence, and day and action the intra-dependence. Yearly the four seasons have parallels as does the birth, life and death of every person. (It has resonance's in writings from other cultures, religions and philosophies for all ages.)

We would say that every person experiences some form of the oscillation process whatever their belief or disbelief in God. However, we have developed the oscillation theory as a specific model to indicate how the different states of mind and the wide range of human values and experiences can be understood in a meaningful and practical way by using the concept of dependence on God - the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This paper is presented as a work in progress, to be supported or disconfirmed by anyone who wishes to test it.