(Note: this is the introduction for the Central Branch ORG Sys.)

2) Best Navigation Through this Blog:

Back to Cleric Path Introduction or Glance at How to read this book

Go directly to other Parts of the Path

1) Spiritual Roots
2) Unique Trunk Identity
3) Healthy Branches
4) The Canopy of Wisdom & Wealth

3) Links to Posts about Core Concepts

 

Summary

If you’ve noticed that the branches seem to roughly equate to the four stages I don’t think that’s accidental.

	4 Stages of the Path	4 Branches
1	Roots – Connection to God	God & Relationship
2	Trunk – Identity/Uniqueness	Organization/Success
3	Branches – Authentic Action	Physical Health
4	Canopy – Environment of Wisdom	Having Wealth

The risk is that we’ll get confused between the stages of the path and the branches at just this one level. Despite the symmetry of their order and the common themes branches are all in the same stage. Its where you take authentic action on the items of the path.

That said, the topics of Organization & Success are very close to my heart and thus would be very central to any authentic expression of my uniqueness. I do think putting this section in the number two spot is best for others, not just me. The reason is more clear if we examine the primary questions of each stage and each branch.

	Focus or Questions of each Stage	Purpose of each Branch
1	Do I Trust God? Who do I say God is?	Be vulnerable w/ God & my Fellowship
2	Who does God say I am?	Create capacity/time for other branches
3	Who is God’s Being for me, right now?	Enrich quality of other branches
4	Live inside-out by Pruning Distractions	Empower opportunities for other branches

The big idea of this branch is to create time and ability to better go after the other branches. They say you don’t have a lack of time you have a lack of priorities and if you’re like me, you have more on your plate than you could ever accomplish.

There are techniques we can employ to set ourselves up for success. Everyone out there is going to focus on being able to do more in less time, but you can’t outrun the basic issue of having too much to do and not enough time. The whole path of the Postmodern Cleric is about having more abundance which means more than just getting better at playing whack-a-mole with life’s interruptions and actually making progress, where it counts.

Step one, however, is going to be constantly refocusing everything on the flow of good through you and forcing your actions to come from an authentic place. Before you ‘do’ something it must be authentic to God’s vision of you–and this is the scary part–even if it’s not practical.

The Right Mindset:

An abundance mindset is vital to ORG sys (my organization system). Imagine you have a ship exploring the sea and you’ve got a full load of silver bars in your cargo bay. You come upon one final island to explore and discover a few bars of gold. Every bar of Gold you take on means leaving a bar of silver behind. A scarcity mindset will become overwhelmed instantly. The choice seems obvious, but is it really?

In real life, you’ve got in your cargo bay rocks that probably contain silver, and you find rocks you believe to contain gold. But what if you’re wrong? It’s going to take faith to make a good choice.

I’m going to put forth a success principle I believe to be the core of accomplishing anything worthwhile. Consistent Good Decisions + Time = Success. I’m not saying this will always yield your goal. Chances are what you want will change over time. What you actually need is a way to make progress toward your success even if you can’t really see clearly what would constitute success.

So we can’t make an idol out of being productive. We need to focus on staying connected to God and taking authentic actions, which means believing we are who God says we are. In other words, lean not on your own understanding, delight yourself in the Lord and he’ll guide your ways. We are given stewardship over this planet. It’s good to manage what we have authority over, our focus/energy, our time, our relationships, our health and our wealth.

About this Branch:

(I discuss superpowers in theSuper Hero lens of the Trunk stage.) My superpower is holding dichotomy in my mind. Essentially, my connection place with God is where he explains mysteries to me, and my ability is to see the themes in chaos. If I’m lacking ideas I can smash to very different things together and see the new, beautiful thing born from the wreckage.

So two of the things I’ll be smashing together to create the key elements of ORG Sys are “Getting Things Done” (GTD) by David Allen, and “The Power of Ultimate Focus” by ??? and ??? I do have a number of other great inspirations, like “The Novel” by Eli Goldratt. “The Seven Habits of Successful people,” by Stephen R. Covey. And so on.

We’re going to draw out some cool key features through this process and I’ll be adding more all the time. Remember I’m sharing what I’m actively learning so the branch level is going to full of great adventures I’m taking on with God and hopefully you’ll see the value in these experiences too.

 

Under Construction