Why, How & What

From
November 1, 2024

From the Pastor

A fundamental concept that is repeatedly brought up in the Word is the idea of three degrees. Secrets of Heaven 9825 goes so far as to say that everything should be seen as having three degrees:

Indeed, for anything to be perfect it must be divided into three degrees. This is so with heaven, and it is so with the forms of good and truth there…. There are three heavens…. Each heaven too is divided into three degrees. …The situation is just the same with a person’s interiors.

In fact, everything the Lord creates has three degrees that are distinct from one another and that relate with one another the way end, cause and effect relate. This is true on many levels, all nested within one another, and in a beautiful manner that reminds one of fractals in nature. Your own mind is no different.

So it is hardly surprising to discover that the most effective advertising speaks not to the “what”, nor the “how”, but mostly to the “why” of the product being advertised. For instance, one of Apple’s most famous campaigns didn’t advertise phones and computers, or the process by which those devices were created. Rather, Apple was selling innovation: “Think Different.” Likewise, L’Oreal’s most famous slogan made no reference to what their product was or to what it did, but instead targeted something deeper: “Because you’re worth it.” This isn’t just a way of selling products, either. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not famously say, “I have a plan,” but rather, “I have a dream!” We human beings respond most powerfully to “ends.”

All this is discussed in the speeches and writings of a man named Simon Sinek. Search YouTube for his TED talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” (https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action). Some of the references are now a little dated, over a decade later, but the essential points are still solid. Or look up his book, Start with Why for more on this.

One of the more interesting things Sinek points out is that our brains are divided into three parts that seem to line up with what he calls the “Golden Circle” (really three concentric circles) of “Why, How, What”—what a philosopher might describe as “End, Cause, Effect”.

This is just one illustration of how much insight one can get by applying the “doctrine of three degrees” from the Word to our understanding of the world around us. Try it next time you are trying to understand a complex problem. Ask yourself, “How does what I’m looking at divide itself into three discrete, simultaneous degrees?” Which is the will/end/why part, which is the intellect/cause/how part, and which is the endeavor/effect/what part? Properly identifying these parts in any problem can yield powerful insights. Try it next time you get stuck trying to make a major decision in your own life.   ~ Glenn “Mac” Frazier, Pastor – November 28, 2024