Got A System? Does It Matter?

“Vegas loves a man
with a system
and so does God.

All these monks
running numbers
for enlightenment’s jackpot.

God cracks open the universe
during the third rainshower
of May to all white Paravans.

Count your prayers
on plastic beads
while God & I cash in.”
-S. Foster

Is your religious practice a system to beat the odds, or a deeper quest for meaning?

While orthopraxy frees us from dogmatism of the soul, it can chain us to rigid systems never to be departed from. On one hand, it’s good to have consistency so that everything runs like clockwork and everyone can focus on the matter at hand. On the other, it can lack the dynamic spontaniety that often sparks a deep religious experience.

What do you think should be strictly orthopraxic? Where should there be wiggle room? Do you feel correspondences should be static or fluid? Do you think ritual basics should be consistent, or dynamic?