formula

formula /fôrmyələ/ n 1 : a particular set of steps or conditions that create an specific outcome or solution  formula for life is as orderly as a 30 three-year-olds cooking cupcakes without adult supervision 2a : the most maddening formulas have outcomes that perpetuate dysfunction.  Such is the case for the construction of social privilege in America:

CLASS + RACE + GENDER + AGE + RELIGION + SEXUALITY + NATIONALITY + ABILITY =  WHO GETS WHAT & HOW MUCH

The sum of this formula equals the level of privilege one has in American society. The “what” could be power, respect, money, freedom. “How much” determines the level of struggle in a person’s life.  The greater the struggle, the greater the risk of dysfunction. To simplify the formula, reduce the number of variables down to race, class and gender as these three hold the strongest influence in society.  Of the three, race has the greatest capacity to effect the sum, though scientifically this variable does not even exist, see RACE. The more recognizable a variable, the more weight it has in the formula, dramatically manipulating the outcome.  For example, on a scale of one to ten with ten being the most privileged in society, the average poor black woman may be a level four in society.  I am poor and a woman but because I am not recognizably Black, my privilege level is about a six.  As a general rule, those on the lowest rung in the social ladder in America are dead or in jail.  Not coincidentally, they are usually black males, see PROFILE. There is one exception to this set of conditions, a single variable that prevails over all other inputs, creating an outcome that refuses to submit to the standard formula, see SPIRIT  b : no formula is infallible.  Walter Brueggemann agrees this is especially true for the word of God.  In an interview published in Image, Brueggemann states that the “endless temptation of orthodoxy in its many forms is to receive a glimpse of gospel truth and then try to freeze it as an absolute formulation.”  At its best this effort stunts the growth of God. At worst, see KILL.  When we see the Word as a set of conditions, Brueggemann says “we cover all the generative force of the biblical testimony and make it a package that we transmit to each other and use as a club on each other.”  This, too, perpetuates dysfunction. Such formulaic approaches fall short of God’s glory like social privilege fails humanity 3 : Should I be so bold as to input God into a formula, it might look like this: GOD = LIFE.  Because this only has one step or condition, it is too simple to be considered a true formula, which is how God, and life, should be.  Fortunately, God allows for the complexity of all things (including the bad and the ugly,) and works them together for good.