When there is a compelling sense of purpose for those working in an organization and when they are involved in plotting the direction for their organization, then a sustained commitment to the long-term welfare of the company is retained, even when it must shift directions. Under conditions of a guiding True North, those who own and lead the company will ensure that the breadth of shared interests in the company (both inside and outside the organization) is secure. They are then more likely to find support coming from multiple sources. This is ultimately, what secular coherance is all about.
A Sacred Vision of Coherence
I propose that Harmony of Interests requires more than just secular coherence if it is to be sustained over a lengthy period of time in any society. While Adam Smith’s and Anonymous’ economic (and political) perspective is of great value, it is not sufficient. A dose of De Tocqueville’s generosity of spirit is required—perhaps even a major injection. A sacred coherence is required. Fortunately, as Francis Perkins noted, the sacred domain is to be found in all communities—at least in de Tocqueville’s America.
Is there any justification for this more outlandish claim that the sacred is to be found in all communities (and by extension in all societies)—not just those in the United States. I would offer the following perspective as a way of providing this claim with some credibility. Specifically, by anthropological standards, we are living only a few minutes past the hunter/gatherer era in our evolution—and hunter/gatherers lived and worked in a world that was saturated with spiritual forces and entities. Many forms of animism were embraced by the hunter/gatherers that were founded on the belief that these forces and entities are embedded in the physical environment traversed by these people. In contemporary societies the spiritual and sacred are embedded in the meaning which people assign to their work—endeavors that are filled with Soul and Spirit (Moore, 1992).
The Sacred and Spiritual are also found in the contemporary sanctuaries we create (whether workshops, carnivals, or retreat sites). These are special sites where learning and re-creation can occur (Bergquist, 2017). In many societies (such as Hawaii) one can retreat temporarily to a sanctuary—so that forgiveness can be found (before returning to society). This forgiveness might be granted by other people (a profound source of inclusion) or by oneself (a way to discover or renew privilege). The Spiritual and Sacred are also to be found in ceremonies we perform (whether a wedding, funeral or birthday party) and processions we enact (whether a church service, parade or New Orleans Second Line). The animism of our ancient ancestors is still alive—it just takes somewhat different form.
Community of Meaning and Memory
All of this suggests that a sacred vision of coherence can be founded on the belief that everything in the life of a community has meaning and purpose—and therefore should be appreciated, celebrated and remembered. A community of memory can be founded on this sense of meaning and purpose. This community of memory becomes the primary forum for collective appreciation and celebration. Bellah and his colleagues (1985, p. 282) put it this way:
“The communities of memory of which we have spoken are concerned in a variety of ways to give a qualitative meaning to the living of life, to time and space, to persons and groups. Religious communities, for example, do not experience time in the way the mass media present it-as a continuous flow of qualitatively meaningless sensations. The day. the week, the season, the year are punctuated by an alternation of the sacred and the profane. Prayer breaks into our daily life at the beginning of a meal, at the end of the day, at common worship, reminding us that our utilitarian pursuits arc not the whole of life. that a fulfilled life is one in which God and neighbor are remembered first.”
