- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
It just hit me, hard, that I should search for all the times over the last nine years I have been here at StayLDS that I have referenced the idea of there being settlers and explorers in the LDS Church – and the unavoidable tension that creates. I hope that impression was inspired and that someone will benefit from it now. In chronological order, without the dates attached, and understanding the amount of redundancy there will be, here are those comments:
Quote:Fwiw, every organization needs the worker bees; every civilization needs the settlers. The explorers expand horizons and find danger and excitement, but the settlers allow a civilization to be stable enough to survive – since the explorers also die at a higher rate than the average citizens who live safely in their homes and live “normal” lives.
Quote:The desire for peace, safety and security is one of the strongest instincts we possess as a collective group. It also is one of the things that allows the explorers to explore – the knowledge that they always will have some place to return that is safe and secure.
I try hard to realize that it is NOT the explorers and critics who create the peace and security in my life; it is the settlers and acceptors. I need to be willing to accept them as equally important (if not even more important in some ways) and be grateful for them.
Quote:People need what people need, and people tend to construct their lives to provide them what they need – and want. Being open-minded to me means, at least in part, not demanding that settlers be exploreres – even as the typical settler mind-set is to be wary of and restrain the explorers. Often, explorers can explore in confidence largely because they know there always will be settlers waiting to welcome and feed and praise and provide security for a season when they return from their explorations.
Remember, too, that a kite is not just the thing that flies through the wind. It also is the string that keeps it safely grounded. I value my wife-string as much as my me-kite.
Quote:Community leadership, therefore, simply must create a society in which the settlers stay and receive what they need (stability and order and security) – understanding that the wanderers will stay only if they are tied emotionally (spiritually) to the community in some way. They know they can’t GIVE the explorers what they need inside the community; those explorers have to FIND it – inside or outside the community.
Quote:Explorers are always going to be on the fringe in most cases, since settlers always outnumber explorers. Society would fall apart if that weren’t the case.
Quote:Literalism is general and works fine for a community of settlers; figurativism is individualized and must be pursued and constructed outside of communal constraints. Leaders can speak figuratively, but they can’t lead figuratively – and that’s an incredibly important distinction.
Quote:I’ve said many times here that there is a basic, fundamental difference between settlers and explorers – and the explorers tend to over-see and resist “cultish” behavior, while settlers tend to under-see and accept “cultish” behavior. Those who participate here tend to be explorers, and it’s important, therefore, to be aware of and resist the tendency to dismiss what works for so many settlers by throwing around the “cult” label. Thus, as a friend of mine wrote once, “Whenever I hear of a charge of cultism, I try to think, ‘Is it I?'” That’s far more productive on a personal level than simply blasting “those others”.
Quote:Explorers always struggle against “indoctrination” – but that same indoctrination is vital to the security-focused settlers. It’s only “evil” or even “bad” to those who don’t want it. For everyone else, it is a foundational aspect of sanity itself.
As with so many things, the struggle between freedom to explore and safety to conform is the communal opposition in all things. It’s hard for many people of EITHER orientation (and it is an orientation as powerful as sexual orientation in many ways) to understand how important and valuable (even necessary) the other orientation is to those for whom it is natural.
There simply are more settlers in the world than explorers – and it’s important to recognize and even honor that.
Quote:I think the example of explorers and settlers applies exceptionally to the analogy of the zoo. Settlers need a feeling of protection and safety above almost all else; explorers need a feeling of freedom and independence above almost all else. Thus, settlers are going to see good in an analogy of a zoo, generally, while explorers are going to reject that same analogy, generally.
It can be disconcerting to be a settler in the midst of a bunch of explorers or an explorer in the midst of a bunch of settlers. The key, imo, is to try to understand the other perspective – and I really do understand acceptance and stabilizing power of the zoo analogy. It just doesn’t work for me – and part of that is because I can’t “learn from” something I’ve considered already in the past and that isn’t new to me.
Quote:Most people value security over discovery – both inside and outside the LDS Church. Settlers simply see things differently than explorers, and there ALWAYS is a tension between those two groups.
Quote:The LDS Church culture works really well for settlers, generally speaking.
It doesn’t work as well for explorers.
In order for it to work WELL for explorers, they need to be comfortable in settlements – but they also need to be comfortable not internalizing and being okay when people criticize them for wandering.
In short, they have to recognize why they struggle and be confident in who they are.
Quote:I have been (an explorer) all my life – so I have had plenty of time to learn how to be an explorer among settlers.
Thanks for this Ray. There are also settlers that find themselves on the outside looking in for various reasons. Absolutely, Roy. When something occurs that expels someone from the general community of settlers, or changes them enough so that they no longer are typical of those settlers, there can be a “foreigner” or “outsider” category into which they shift – even if they aren’t foreigners in any objective sense.
Count me as benefited. :wave: The idea of settlers and explorers and the repeated comments you offer have given me a measure of peace tonight, as I had an experience during Sunday School today that left me wondering just HOW I was going to go about creating my place in my ward. Your comments have given helpful validation to the feeling that there’s always going to be some part of me that is seeking – and sometimes strongly so. However, seeking isn’t bad, and as you say, it is enabled by those that settle.
Any thoughts on how to strike a balance between settlers and explorers?
Be comfortable with yourself and non-combative, and strive to love others unconditionally. Letting go of expectations for others goes a long way toward internal peace, as well. That isn’t as easy as it might sound to some people, but it is the most concise summary I can give.
I appreciate you giving it. Simple and powerful concepts. Stressing the importance of the body of Christ – the feet don’t ask recompense for bearing the weight of the body. They might need specific care, but they don’t need a different function. I had to ponder on this idea for a bit. I was almost certainly once a settler. I am much more of an explorer now. I think settlers have a difficult time understanding that not all who wander are lost, even though many settlers were once explorers. Thanks for sharing Ray. I like the analogy. I think you could substitute explorers wtih “Creatives” or “free thinkers” or “ideators” and settlers with “conventional people” or similar monikers. Neither are meant to be pejorative here… I am definitely an explorer. I would say that yes, I found a way in the church that involves limited exploring. But that is not be enough for me. I also found new worlds to explore outside the church. But I come home to the settlement regularly because my family is there. But I don’t settle much anymore, I participate enough in the settlement to show my family I still have ties there.
I thought we were going to talk about a new “Settlers” board game, with the “Explorers” expansion pack. But, if not, then yes the analogy works, and I’m an explorer!
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.