#46934
Rich Paxson
Participant

In the last Unit, “A Little Family Upheaval,” James introduced the concept of “secondariness.” Our lives rest in and are dependent upon God who is always infinitely loving and forgiving.

Arthur Koestler, in his 1967 book ‘The Ghost in the Machine,’ coined the word: holon, which I think is related to James’s notion of “secondariness.” <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holon_(philosophy)&gt; I’ve written before in this forum about holons, which are entities that can only exist within larger, enveloping structures. Also, each holon is made up of smaller, dependent holons.

How do I connect ‘secondariness’ with ‘holonic’? God is the Creator. We are secondary. God holds us in existence within God’s creation of holonic structures that are designed to mirror God’s infinite love and forgiveness. We cloud these structures of God’s love, however, when we look to the social other, rather than the Other other, for affirmation and direction.