This is the title of a short book by the French philosopher Gustave Thibon, published almost forty years ago and which has gone through numerous editions. It gathers a selection of short texts in which he deals with problems of everyday life with simplicity and, at the same time, with great depth.
In the text that gives the title to the book, he explains the difference between the balance, which is the situation that occurs when opposing forces cancel each other, and the harmonyIn harmony there is contained tension, we speak of "nuclear equilibrium"; in harmony the combination of diverse forces produces a situation better than the starting point, as in the case of a symphony. In equilibrium there is contained tension, we speak of "nuclear equilibrium"; in harmony the combination of diverse forces produces a situation better than the starting point, as in the case of a symphony.
In any organization of people, such as a brotherhood, it is more important to reach harmony, working together in the achievement of a common project without renouncing the singularity of each contribution, than to achieve a balance derived from a counterbalance of powers within the brotherhood and between the brotherhood and the institutional Church.
For an organization to function properly, it is essential that its mission, its raison d'être, be well defined. The mission of a fraternity is to form its members, to promote public worship, to foster Charity and to influence society with a Christian spirit. They are organizations of people who collaborate with the Church, under its supervision, in carrying out its evangelizing mission. To direct a brotherhood is to manage an organization that serves hundreds or thousands of associates, of brothers and sisters. That requires more than enthusiasm and good intentions.
Emphasizing these issues is not to downgrade the activity of the brotherhoods, reducing them to companies devoid of soul, on the contrary, it is to ensure that the feeling and doctrine will be able to flow through expeditious ways.
In the management of the brotherhood, two areas of action can be distinguished: on the one hand, the processes of management common to any organization of people: the keeping of accounts and financial management comparable to those of any other organization, which guarantees its sustainability; also a definition of administrative processes that guarantee the attention to the brothers and a communication policy that helps to reinforce the real and perceived image of the brotherhood, contributing to its reinforcement.
The other field of work is that of the activities to carry out its mission. It covers the formation of the brothers, the promotion of charity and the promotion of public worship. This involves the organization of training sessions, the setting up of altars, the organization of worship services, and the care of the disadvantaged through the Charity Commission.
Two complementary lines of work are thus configured in the brotherhoods: the administrative management and the realization of activities. Neither should prevail over the other. Aristotle explained that virtue is in the middle point; but a middle point that is not obtained from the balance between opposing tendencies, but from the harmony between different elements that complement each other and places us in a middle point that is on a higher plane than the two extremes.
It is urgent to overcome the loop of managing the routine, it is necessary to raise new horizons, avoiding the brotherhoods to participate, by action or omission, of the social crises; for it the management and activities have to be the external manifestation of a solid formation that is acquired with exigency and effort. If there is no formation, there are no foundations and one's own prejudices are uncritically projected in the analysis of reality, which is devastating. In a social scenario as liquid as the one we live in, it is necessary to have a solid conceptual model to respond to permanent challenges. Christian worldview based on divine revelation, which perfects reason.
From this worldview a series of decisive affirmations are deduced: the concept of the person, his freedom, his capacity for personal fulfillment, love, happiness and possession of God. A whole universe born of Christian culture and sustained only within it. If the brotherhoods, and those who direct them, do not participate in this global vision of reality, it will be difficult for them to carry out their task. They will be, at most, good managers of organizations without roots and, therefore, without future.
D. in Business Administration. Director of the Instituto de Investigación Aplicada a la Pyme. Eldest Brother (2017-2020) of the Brotherhood of the Soledad de San Lorenzo, in Seville. He has published several books, monographs and articles on brotherhoods.
