The Garden of Eden

At Sunday School I was taught how the Israelites won battles and prospered because they worshiped God. Then in senior school I learned that in the trenches of WW1 the Germans raised a board which said, "Gott mit uns" (God is with Us) and the Brits replied with a board saying "So have we" (Got mittens.) Both believing God was on their side made me wonder if there was more to the Bible than worshiping; if it had more in it than was obvious.
Let us suppose that Adam was not the first Homo Sapien but was the first one to look around and recognise beauty and realise there was more to living than picking berries and taking a spear to a boar. Even suppose Adam was not one man but many around the world; in fact humanity. This realisation would be a giant leap in understanding, a huge leap in evolution, and would explain the 'other men' in Genesis.
Naturally Adam would talk it over in his grunts and whistles with Eve, stuck in the cave, cooking and washing.
With his new appreciation of things, Adam becomes absorbed in boar and buffalo and how they move around and their general habits but starts to complain about Eve's cooking - do we always have to have spinach with boar?
This irritates Eve and she too looks around, notices the apples and introduces apple sauce to their diet.
Instead of just a story,
we have a view of family life, not just in prehistory but in many present-day households, Adam might be the Might Hunter but it is Eve who is making the family decisions.
Both Adam and Eve are becoming curious and curious people are never content, their legacy to mankind is to be ever seeking the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
There is no location of the Garden of Eden, it is a state of mind called contentment where people are neither curious nor seeking new experiences.
This leads to a view of the Bible as a teaching document with broader scope than pure theology - for example, where did the idea that we need a holiday come from?

Heroes are human

When it gets to Kings, the story of the Israelites is the story of a whole nation, or a major corporation and we can see all the politics of multi nation companies at work. Nevertheless, let’s look at David. David is a hero king yet he is humble; his real concern is for the wellbeing of the nation. The nation is bigger than David, not the other way round as some politicians come to imagine. Yet the story tells of David lusting after another man’s wife, not only lusting but engineering the man’s death so that he can have her for himself. If this is true, why not just ignore it and keep the hero king’s moral reputation clean? Because it shows David as a human being. We have so many heroes from history who have no faults or defects, Arthur, Robert Bruce, yet David is not one of them. This is one of the non- religious lessons the Bible teaches – honour people for what they do, but remember they are humans and have human motivations: Robert Burns poetry is a gift to the world and should not be tainted with his human failings; Turner’s landscapes are magnificent and his treatment of women should not detract from that. The wonder of it is that humans could create such things and that should be a motivation for each of us to try.

Saul's statue

As predicted, in the end Saul took advantage of the people. He was king for forty years and, not surprisingly started to think he was something special, even having monuments erected to himself. He'd become so set in his ways he became a danger to the community and unable to use Jonathan and his new tactics. It’s the same in many spheres of human activity, business, management, clubs and teams; leave someone in the same position and they feel they are indispensable or that no one can, or will, take their place. It assumes that if they drop dead the activity will collapse. It also means they start to enforce their opinions on the organisation and, often, in business hang on to outdated ideas and systems because they introduced them or they are comfortable with them. Several organisations insist on moving senior people every three years. What can one achieve in three years? Motivation and reinforcing goals and culture. But not long enough to change and upset the entire organisation nor long enough to become a statue. For the team, the new person has no preconceived ideas about products, tools or tactics. No one has a chance to set up an ivory tower or an empire and the organisation stays lean and mean. In a club, without intent, things get swept under the carpet if one of the officers is too long in one post. One misconception is that a club will die if the chairman or secretary gives up. If the remaining members are not motivated enough to keep it going, why does it exist anyway? The nation didn’t exist because Saul was there, Saul was there because the nation existed.

What a king does is rule.

If there was ever a lesson from the Bible for today’s world it is the warnings issued by Samuel to the Israelites when they demand a king. He warns that the king will destroy their family life, take their sons and daughters for servants and soldiers. The modern situation may be a mirror image but it has the same effect. Working for a multinational demands an employee will give up their family and friends and spend their waking hours working for the corporation’s benefit. Which takes us back to the first lesson of – six days working and then a day of rest; a day to readjust and remember the reasons for working.

Some say their corporation will look after them when they retire but it is well to remember the corporation’s first responsibility is to its shareholders, second to its creditors, and only then, to the employees.

The employees primary responsibility is to their dependents. The corporation can replace even its chairman but the employee can not replace the love and concern of a friend or one of their family; those who will, in the bad times, always be a support.

I read recently of a man whose aim was to make enough money to retire at 54 and spend time with his family. One has to ask what his priority is? Why not spend time with the family now and retire at 60 or 65. Many people die before 54. Many young people have cancer in their thirties and quality time is hard to come by.

That seventh day is to make sure you know what your priorities are.

Looking into the Ark

Looking into the Ark
After the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant, several people looked inside and died. My first thoughts were that this is what happens to an employee, a member of a political party, or a team member who questions the ethos and morals of the organisation; they are ostracised or fired. Then I noticed a comment in the newspaper that a head transplant would be possible within ten years and the Bible story took on a more important lesson. Let's assume we have a student who has applied for assisted suicide at a time when the head of a Stephen Hawkins; a twenty two year old soccer star, for whom his English team have paid a million pounds; a millionaire in America; or the director of a Polit Bureau in Russia, all need a body and make up your own mind about the outcome. It takes morality into the financial arena. If we accept head transplant, what will this be the harvest of this whirlwind? The murder of those sleeping in the street or the sale of children in a return of the days of the body snatchers? So the real lesson is that, when it comes to morality, there are no free lunches. Adultery sacrifices loyalty, murder sacrifices security (if it's all right for one person to do it, they justify for them to be murdered) etc. etc.

Losing the Ark

After Ruth, the Israelite story shifts to Eli, the prophet, and his son’s. The sons are abusing their father’s power and Eli is warned there will be consequences, not for his person but his family and his reputation. This is one of the incidents that make me think the Bible is not just for the church but for all of us and for our daily and  business lives; a precursor of Aesop and his moral fables. The lesson here is that the stigma of a misuse of power, even a dishonourable deed, not only affects the perpetrator but their parents and clings to a family for at least another generation. In the case of Eli’s sons, it affected the war with the Philistines; even bringing their most miraculous artefact, the Ark of the Covenant, didn’t save them, in fact, they lost the Ark. That brings a warning for business managers, executives and owners that dishonest trading kills a business for years. Individuals and even governments that promise things they cannot produce will suffer consequences, not only for the moment but in the future.  Not only that, their actions will enhance the reputation of those they cheat, their rivals, making them appear victims.

Enough is not enough

The story of Samuel begins with his mother Hannah and her rivalry with Peninnah the other wife of Elkanah. Hannah was childless and ridiculed by Peninnah. Peninnah was doing her job and bearing children. Elkanah saw Hannah's job as just loving him but she wanted more. She took a risk and, in return for children, dedicated Samuel to work for the community. (I am assuming working for the church is community service.) Peninnah is not mentioned again and the heroine of this episode is Hannah, why? Because she was prepared to do more than just her job, or the job Elkana alloted her. The tale is one of those repetitions of the maxim that, to succeed, you must do more than your job. We all know who Hanna's god was. The god of a business is sales profit and a business will fail if it only just satisfies the current needs of its customers; someone else will give better service, a cheaper price,or a slightly better product and any organisation must be constantly looking for a better way to do things. If your god is promotion, there are other people 'doing their job' and to satisfy your god you need to do more than that. If your god is job satisfaction, just staying in a boring but safe job won't work for you, you need to take a risk.
There is a spin-off in the tale - while Hannah was praying, Eli the priest thought she was drunk - don't judge the book by its cover is what fills the bill there. Don't assume, because the Bible is used by the church,that it has no messages about living, business and personal relationships for others. It is the original self help book.

Ruth's new job

Looking deeper into Ruth’s story, up till now, the stories have been about leaders and a growing or already large organisation but this story comes down to employee level. It’s a tale of someone joining a new company. Ruth makes the change successfully because she embraces the new culture without reservation. Not only that, she takes advice from an old member of the culture, her mother-in-law, Naomi. The lesson is that when someone changes jobs, they should buy into the new culture and not hanker after how it was elsewhere. It’s the same with relationships, none of which is perfect, and comparing the new relationship with an old romance only serves to highlight shortcomings in the new one, while romanticising the old. It’s better to enjoy a new partner’s scones than tell them they’re not as good as Mother made.

That is not to say it is wrong to suggest changes in a new situation but they must be made using the culture of the new one and not seem to challenge it. Of course, if the new culture doesn’t accept suggestions, keep quiet, that’s the culture!

What about Naomi? She didn’t try to hold Ruth tight and keep her to herself but urged her to explore the relationship with Boaz; a relationship which would elevate Ruth to at least her equal. In the end that relationship would produce David, then Solomon and his wisdom. How that worked out teaches us that we should not be afraid of helping those who are our juniors to climb the corporate ladder or become stars in the team, they may take the company, or the team, to greater heights.

Ruth

The story of Ruth comes between the desperate intercine warfare among the Israelites in Judges and the serious business of Kings but it's not just a bit of light relief. When reading the Bible stories, it is best not to rush but to let the story talk to you. First, is the old maxim that a kindness done without expectation of reward will come back in some way or other. BUt then there is Naomi's advice and Ruth's behavior to think over. The relationship grew, not because Ruth pushed it but because she let Boaz decide to pursue it. All Ruth did was to give him the opportunity. Any relationship, personal, working, or business will only succeed if both partners want it to. Pressurising another party into a relationship is a recipe for disaster. This is not the same as reaching consensus, which may involve sacrifice; the sacrifices must not create animosity, os course, or the relationship will implode. hard lessons from a love story!

The 'normal' trap

After Samson the last chapters of the book off Judges mentions that there was no king in Israel and everyone did as they pleased. That situation has been repeated often in the succeeding centuries. Many revolutions have degenerated into petty quarrels among the ‘victors’. The crux being that there is no longer any central authority, or even objective and squabbling becomes the 'normal' relationship. The Israelites had been absorbed with claiming the land they had been promised but when that was done, they lost direction. There are many lessons in the story, personal, relationship wise and for business.

In personal life, it highlights the need for a long term goal, many fail college and university because their goal has been achieved. The idea that they are at college or whatever to learn how to be a doctor, for example, is dampened by the realisation of their short term goal; those who succeed see it only as a stepping stone.

Relationships break down for similar reasons. Great sex, intellectual compatibility, even being a good doubles partner at tennis or golf become ‘normal’ and descend into boredom after a while and it is those who want to share their life experience that make real partners.

In the business sphere, without firm direction the sales manager argues with the production manager, who argues with IR, who argues with PR and energy that should be directed to success is dissipated in internal wrangling.

What is needed is a plan for what happens next; the understanding that the realisation of one goal will open the door to another challenge. Someone who wants to be a foreman for being a foreman rather than to learn how to be a manager, for example, will become bored and useless, unless their life objective lies elsewhere. There is no point in getting into a relationship where the sex is great but the partner is thick as a brick, that’s obvious, but so is a partner who doesn’t share long term goals. Before a business has maximised it's market it must have plans to change direction or be sold.

It is distressing to see how many ignore the lessons of Judges for no better reason than that they are in the Bible. They are not only for the religious but contain the wisdom handed down from antiquity.

One of the people our Sunday School teacher made a hero of, was Samson. Of course, it was war time and there were Nazies to hate but, since then, there have been a number of terrorists/freedom fighter organisations who have made me re-examine the Samson story and the lessons it teaches. When Samson arrived, the Israelites were dominated by the Philistines. Samson grew up, killed thousands with the jaw bone of an ass, married someone from their culture, was betrayed, blinded and took his revenge by pulling down their place of entertainment, thereby killing, not only himself, but more than he had when he was alive. After all that, the Israelites were still dominated by the Philistines. So, apart from the death of many Philistines, what had Samson achieved? It doesn't seem to have been a great deal, so what lessons does the story teach?
Firstly, as has been proved over and over since 1945, killing people solves very little. 
However, these notes are meant to deal with personal and relationship problems and it is necessary to look more closely at the incidents in the story. Samson was betrayed by his wife, a wife he had taken from outside his culture. That's not the same as race or social class, it's the philosophy we live by, how we see our social responsibilities. For a relationship, social, work, or business to work, partners' cultures have to overlap. For some reason, it is better if they have areas of difference that have to be worked on, but the overlap must be considerable or one partner will betray the other.

Then there is the question of revenge. Samson’s efforts may have altered the demographics but each tit following a tat only escalated the confrontation and solved nothing of the general problem of Philistine domination or equality between them and the Israelites. The same applies in relationships. Paying back some slight only encourages another. It’s not good to allow oneself to be trampled on but, ideally, one should leave the other party an honourable way out of a dispute.

Reminders

One of the things that interrupts the smooth flow of the Israelites taking over everything is their inability to conquer all the tribes in the area and the idea that this was for their own good as it trained those who had never experienced war in its dangers and tactics. For our present generation there are things like the obsession with germs and the belief that children should not be exposed to them, which leads to lower resistance to disease. I think it was in the war of the worlds that the aliens were killed by a common cold virus. Are we in danger of getting to that stage? In the corporate world it is easy for the staff to become complacent in the belief that the company will continue in its current state for ever, ignoring the virile competition of new arrivals in the industry. In these circumstances, as with sports teams, a good helping of competition works wonders.

On a relationship level, complacency, taking a partner or friend for granted, is a death sentence and we need to be remember what it was like before the relationship was established and keep it fresh; recalling why we started the relationship and our joy at that time needs to be relived from time to time. Instead we tend to view the relationship in its current state, forgetting it got that way through our forgetting.  

When we remember on a personal level, it is so easy to forget our successes and see only where we failed.  It’s easy to concentrate on the failures and regrets and forget what we achieved. Many of the regrets people worry about are small and insignificant but they will dismiss successes and times of elation of a similar level as of no account.  The cake that tuned out a success is just as important as the flop but what do we remember? The bus we missed is an event but how often did we catch it? The name we can’t remember is a tragedy but what about the smell of the roses.

It’s in ways like this that the Bible can teach us how to live.

Loyalty and commitment

In his last days, Joshua called the people together and like a CEO after a merger, warned them about the dangers of clinging to old and contrary cultures - they will become snares and traps for you, he warned. He also insists they choose where their loyalty lay.  These warnings don't just apply to big corporations, however, they apply to sports teams, small groups and even individuals. This is not to say that the door should be closed on new ideas but that we all have a culture, company and personal, that makes us who we are. Trying to imitate someone else only damages our own identity. No business can succeed if it is continually changing its focus, it needs to concentrate on its core business and, most importantly, core values. No team can win if its members are not all focused on the team game plan with half operating to one strategy and the others employing tactics used by a different team. No individual can succeed by trying to be an imitation of someone else instead of making use of their own strengths. What about loyalty? Most problems in business and work come from divided loyalties. The business only exists as long as it makes a profit, if that is not possible within the company culture of customer policy, wage rates, employee conditions, then the company must close. Changing the culture to produce an inferior article makes it a new company and each individual will, and must, decide if they can transfer their loyalty. A star performer in a poor team moving to a better one, must decide if they can accept not being the hero. The person who can't stand the boss has to decide if their loyalty is to their dependants, the job, or the boss before giving up. Loyalty is not a given, of course, and managers and big companies are apt to forget that loyalty must be earned, in the same way, as Joshua points out, that God earned that of the Israelites. 

Setting limits

When Joshua became old and full of years he was relieved of leading the fight against the Sidonites. That teaches us that we should not ask others, or even ourselves to do things beyond our capabilities. That’s not to say we mustn’t try but no matter how hard you flap your arms, you won't fly. What it does say is that, as a boss, when things become too difficult for our people, we need to take over responsibility. No one can do everything. Some lack experience, some lack skill and some just have too much on their plate. For the small business, reaching beyond the business’s means is one of the main reasons for failure. To get a large company example, it is only necessary to recall what happened to the banks in the recent collapse.

On the negative side, how often has a good production official been promoted into an advisory, administrative, or even sales job and proved incompetent. The same applies to admin. people fordced out of their competence. That kind of promotion is unfair to the employee and it is the boss’s responsibility to make sure each promotion is in the employee’s interest as well as the company’s.

These notes are written in the belief that the Bible is not just a history book but something that teaches us how we should live and work.    

The Israelites cheated lesson

Taking another look at the story of the small tribe the Gibeonites making their peace with the Israelites I noticed that when the Israelites sampled the Gibeonites food to see if they had come from a long way away, they did not refer the thing to God and were cheated. How often do we get into trouble by agreeing to something or making an arrangement in business, a dinner date, buying another ‘thing’, or agreeing a price or delivery without conferring with, or even referring to our partner or our boss. The lessons the Bible teaches are not always ‘in our face’ and that’s why it is worth reading it with care and reflecting on its teaching. I once agreed an exchange rate, just for the purposes of calculation, with a supplier and found myself in trouble when the supplier insisted I had agreed it as part of the contract. I was lucky, by the time payment was due, the exchange rate was on our side. 

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Mergers and marriages

The next part of the Israelite story as they claim Canaan finds a small tribe coming to make peace with them, claiming to be from far off. They are included in the Israelite community as slaves, but are included and not slaughtered like other groups. It’s like the takeover business and a lesson as to how a small organisation might live within a major company by offering to be overtaken rather than wait for a hostile acquisition. In a well-managed takeover, the employees of the smaller company will still have jobs and careers, whereas in a hostile acquisition the anger generated by the resistance of the company taken over means a clear out of staff. How does the lesson apply to relationships? It’s unacceptable that one party in a relationship will become a slave to the other. In fact there should be no stronger and weaker partner and perhaps that is the lesson. If one partner feels inadequate, or is made to feel inadequate, then they will become a slave, losing personality and will, a sorrowful thing to watch. The story deals with two extreme alternatives and ignores the idea of just running away, which, in personal relationships is the best escape from something that is not based on mutual respect.

Ai

When the Israelites had taken Jericho, they went trying to Ai and were repulsed. According to the story, all the precious metal was reserved for God yet one of the men had taken and hidden some for himself. In other words, the organisation was rotten from within. It’s like a takeover of a business but one of the parent company’s people has set an asset aside for himself. The same is true of a relationship where one partner has kept alive part of an old relationship. The new relationship is doomed. Or a business selling flowers that tries to keep something from the old butchery, selling sausages, maybe, going as well.

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Samson's hair

I want to look at the Samson story in the Bible and what lessons it has for the reader as far as ordinary life is concerned. I don’t for a minute believe his strength depended on the length of his hair, so there must be some other reason for telling the tale. Samson married someone from a group that was opposed to his own but this isn’t about racial purity but about sensibly having a partner who shares your philosophy in life. That shared ideal applies in all walks of life, marriage, business and social. Then Samson tells Delilah where his strength lies and is betrayed. That’s a warning not to expose your weakest areas to anyone you can’t trust, in fact anyone with an interest in hurting you. Then we have the denouement and Samson takes revenge on his tormentors but kills himself in the process. Taking revenge often has that effect, in personal relationships, in general life and in business. It is always better to look at what is best for you, your relationship, or your business, than how you can damage the opposition.

How to manage a project

When Joshua was faced with attacking Jericho and wasn’t sure what to do, an angel appeared and he talked it over with the angel. He then made his plans, made sure everyone knew what to do and started his campaign. The incident lays down the natural order of dealing with a problem facing a group of even two. First talk, then make sure the plan is understood and agreed on, then get into action.

Compare that with what has happened with Brexit. We were suddenly faced with a plan no one understood and expected to get on with things. We have a plan but it’s not agreed and, when we should be in the action stage, the discussions start. The Bible is not just for Sunday School, it’s self help for everyday and for business and even politics.

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