Time to put our thinking caps on.

 I discovered Stephen Johnson’s book, Emergence (Scribner, 2001) a few years after it was published. It’s a work that is hard to read at night or when one is drowsy. I could only give the right attention to its contents when I was most alert. Some writing requires that.

Emergence deals with an area of thought that developed over the past thirty years or so, for lack of a better phrase called organized complexity. The concept actually came to the forefront in some studies of the natural world. Studies of certain molds, collective species and ant colonies demonstrated how, in the midst of seemingly random and chaotic relationship, a collective mind emerged to develop in certain ways and collaborate to accomplish certain objectives. All this happened without what would call a “governing authority” or “order giver.” Patterns and practices emerged from “the bottom up.”

The ant colony is one remarkable example. Though the Ant Queen is responsible for birthing in the colony, she really doesn’t provide direction or orders; that is somehow carried in the collective of all the ants together. They know when to protect her, to gather food, build structures, and take out the trash (from the ant hill). All of this happens without one big ant with a big brain saying, “Do this now.” There is no hierarchy.

Of course, you find amazing pattern emerging in non-carbon based life, too. Like snowflakes, for instance, amazing and varied symmetries formed in relationship between molecular structure and temperature. Solar systems and planets and moons form from patterned and gathered debris formed in gravitational fields. The intricate language of DNA propels cellular division and multiplication and formation in ways beyond imagining.

So, organized complexity it is. And it is found among us humans, too. Left to our own devises, we tend to organize in certain ways as well. Studies of unregulated cities and economies identify certain patterns that rise up in the midst. And it is to that I would like to draw our attention.

 Somewhere at the intersection of order and chaos we find complexity, and then we discover the ways that complexity is self-organized from the inside. And here is the key thing: Patterns develop of their own volition. But where do they come from? How are they determined? By what internal design or wisdom or mechanism?

Here is the disarming answer, according to the discoveries of organized complexity: Complex patterns come into being by following simple principles or rules. Ah, there it is. An internal code, instruction set or series of principles forms a pattern of life. It is true for the acorn turning into an oak tree, neural development in the brain, and the ways that street vendors position themselves along city sidewalks. In fact, recognition software that powers internet search engines makes use of organized complexity; it is designed to recognize patterns according to a set of principles – without specific human-delivered instructions for every decision that is made (which creates a prioritized “find list” determined by collective interest in the topic).

Time to make a religious leap: One, Two, Three … 

Simple rules or principles lead to complex behavior and patterns. Those patterns in turn lead to concrete form. The conclusion seems obvious: Spiritual life, religious life is fueled by principles that lead to patterns that lead to form. So the great spiritual masters of this planet are always addressing first things first, because everything else follows from them: They articulate the deep spiritual principles that will lead to patterns and forms of the Spirit. I think Jesus did this all the time.

To get specific: If you want to strengthen or build a religious community, or shape the way a community lives its life, instead of focusing on the form, you focus on the core principles that lead to everything else. If you talk about loving your neighbor as yourself your community will form patterns that embody a loving way of life. Who knows what form it will take? That emerges from the community itself based on the principle. If you talk about commitment, the body of the church organizes to allow commitment to flourish in support, giving and caring. Who knows what form it takes? That will come from below. If we start following key principles then patterns develop in our lives and communities.

For instance, if we believe that our worship should be shaped by the principles of prayer, proclamation, and sharing the Lord’s table then those principles will find a form in which they will emerge – though perhaps not in the ways we might have expected.

In the same way prayer can shape the life of an entire congregation. When we start conforming our minds to higher spiritual principles, things change, though we often do not know how.

That is precisely why vision for what could be is so important. We are so often trapped by a lack of vision, thereby captive to the present moment. New vision creates a new possibility for a new pattern and thereby a new form. You have a new vision and you get a new church. You have a new church and you get a new community. You have a new community and you might get a new world.

Organized complexity. God’s all over it.