Tikkun Olam

This past summer and this fall I'm reconnecting with the work of Walter Wink, through the books of his "Powers Trilogy" and his book which more or less condenses the trilogy, The Powers That Be. This reading together with facilitating the study course "Living the Questions" (LtQ) has sparked the renewed interest.

In LtQ, numerous references are made to the "myth of redemptive violence," the "Domination System," and "principalities and powers." The first two are terms Wink uses and defines in his writing; the third, by Paul in his letters.

Wink holds that an analysis of the creation myths of many religions around the world (particularly those which influenced modern Western and Middle Eastern societies in both their sacred and secular aspects) reveals that violence is a "given"--part and parcel of the fabric of existence, both of individuals and of peoples. In these models of reality, violence is "who we are."

Wink also points out that the creation myth of Genesis 1:1-2:4a presents a radically different picture of creation in which violence plays no part in the creation of the world or its peoples. In this model violence is something which may be "added on" but which is certainly NOT "built in." In fact he suggests that the Hebrews who recorded this creation story did so intentionally as a direct refutation of the violence-saturated stories of their neighbors. The strong theme of this premise is that, if we've learned to be violent, we can unlearn it and live another way.

The 16th century Jewish mystic Isaac Luria is the first author known to use the phrase "tikkun olam" which is usually translated into English as repairing, or healing, the world. He poses a different, but interesting, story of how the world became "broken" but his proposal is essentially the same: we are invested with the purpose of healing the world. (You can read more about Tikkun Olam at such sites as www.innerfrontier.org/practices/tikkunolam.htm.) This is a vital--not simply an academic--question for progressive Christians as well, particularly for those of us who are coming/have come to believe that the concept is central to understanding the true meaning of Jesus' term "Kingdom of God" (or, as Wink reads it, "God's Domination-free Order").

Building on our initial experience from this summer's LtQ study, we are planning a fall study on "Principalities and Powers," which goes deeper into Wink's theses and which ultimately asks us to confront the question with how we--as individuals and as a community--intend to participate in Tikkun Olam.