A major factor in the cultivation of an effective and happy life is to have a firm understanding of the concept of elements and compounds, and the appropriateness of applying understandings of that concept in daily living. The perception is clear in a marriage. The element is the individual person: the compound is two or more persons in relationship. This man and this woman marry. What they had separately is not what they have now. Oxygen has joined hydrogen and the result is water. The context becomes even more complicated when separate compounds are brought together, so we are faced with a larger concern to know how to manage the differences. The water compound (in this instance the family) meets the oil compound (in this instance the society), and will not mix without some special kind of treatment that achieves the purposes meant for the presence of the two (or more) contexts required by each of the elements/compounds. God manages with unity concepts for the one and the many. The mixtures or the co-existence of the various contexts requires the management of informed/understanding intelligence if it is to work well in the context of the natural world. That information and understanding, when functioning in human beings, relates to the biblical perception of wisdom. Wisdom is a necessary feature for effective living for both the individual (person) and the compound (persons in relationship).
A child is born, an element (elemental/compound) offered by God to the compound of society (compounds of compounds). Anything the parents may do, or anyone else, to help the child to develop and live in righteousness, love, peace and meaning related to God (self and God) and society (self and other self-persons in combinations) will be doing what God meant for us to do. Much of Scripture is related to this matter of the one and the many. Failure in the elemental part is sin, demonstrated in personal selfishness, greed, distortions of various sorts of the mind, body and soul. Failure in society is also sin shown in similar distortions to those of individuals but enlarged to massive tragedy so that, for example, a single murder is enlarged to warfare killing millions of persons, robbing life contexts, causing massive destruction – the ultimate distortion of life and the gifts of resources for the benefit of life and living.
The implication of the above is that the child should be educated to understand what organized persons in nature are called to accomplish for the good life. It ought to begin with the parents, the first teachers. It begins with the modeling of the marriage, the two elements joined in an elementary compound. The marriage will work if each of the elements offers the better part of the nature of the element in compound representation. That element knows there are pulls of one’s own nature to this or that, but is willing to serve the compound of the marriage so to mute some preferences. This surrender works well when the other element of the compound reciprocates. To the degree they find this mix they present an element-like compound to the child. The two parents seem as one to the child, in nearly all things even though one is called Dad and the other is called Mom. What Mom expects and models is what Dad expects and models. It isn’t long into the first years of life until the child finds that in this or that Mom and Dad do not present a unified presentation. There occurs a division easily followed in the relationship of Isaac with one son and Rebekah with the other. It broke up the family, and the brothers were not united until many years later – made beautiful at their father’s grave. The stories are many covering disorientations. They continue and account for the massive number of divorces, even the evasion of marriage by some disillusioned persons. The greatest human gift God gave me is my family. In it I have learned that the element of God has joined the element of my person so to do in me what was necessary to make a marriage with a person quite unlike me, except for our strong mutual faith. God made a compound of such worth to me that if I were to die today, I would want to see God in whatever context he would provide, and if given leave to make a request it would be: May I see my earthly wife? May I tell her how much I love her? May I tell her our children and families are well, and will join us in the bye and bye? Despite the errors and oversights of my own doing, in the practice of faith, and Scripture, with prayer – life is balanced. The future is in God’s promise. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020