Wednesday, November 12, 2008

doxyanddichotomyanddialogue, oh my

tonight i'm ruminating on doxy's comment that
"...those folks on the other side of this issue
are as sure they know what God wants as I am.
Since the two things are mutually exclusive,
we can't both be right."

[i have repented of neglecting the context here--the discussion was on prop 8 and i am in full accord with the position doxy took...i also confess that the point i discuss below is nowhere near as interesting as what inspired it, so check out her blog at wormwood's doxy]

it happens a lot...the perception of an either/or-ness of things...
good/bad, light/dark, right/wrong, i/thou, liberal/conservative...

but aren't all of these actually on a continuummmmmm
that ultimately arcs and comes full circle? for example...

... we have so recently lived through a few very odd
tea-party-with-the-red-queen moments
wherein the far left is actually saying the same thing as the far right...
holy congruence, batpeople!

... i becomes thou
in communion,
prayer,
the state of grace,
the erased lines of forgiveness

...right is wrong
and good is bad
and vice becomes versa
in different contexts
and who gets to say anyway?

...neither light nor dark exists without the other
neither has definition without the other,
both are locked within the same cohesive sphere
creating the energy of life

...and what is that theory of physics that i can never remember..
something about how a mere thought of defining a point influences/moves the point....
or something...see what i mean? it moved...i can't remember it...

...so now we come to the big IT in polarity...
God/Devil....Good/Evil
what if there is no such dichotomous thing?
what is free will but the gift of God?
what separates the ordinary from the divine?
is not all of God's creation sacred?
...nothing is not of God...
...if there is a Devil, then God created it
and by being part of God's creation
it is of God...the ultimate infinite continuum

so, let us consider the possibility
that everyone is ''right''
about what God wants,
about who God is
and what that means in the context of our lives...

for me, it is always that
to mature in love is the only thing we are here to do...
and regardless of what we perceive as ''evil'' or ''other''
it is somehow to be loved/forgiven/graced/alleluia-ed/amen-ed
and in learning to love/forgive it
we are smoothing out another wrinkle in our soul

3 comments:

Wormwood's Doxy said...

In my own defense, I was talking about the issue of gay marriage, so I think there *is* a dichotomy there---I want it to be legal (and base that desire in my faith) and they want it to be illegal (and base that desire in their faith). At the moment, they have won, but I live in hope that God will soon show them the error of their ways. ;-)

But I take your larger point. I'm really bad about dichotomous thinking---ask both my closest friends and my therapist! Something else to pray about...

Re: physics---I believe you were thinking of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

Your language and your poetic sensibility are wonderful, Duck. I'm honored to have inspired you to write such a lovely entry. Thanks.

Pax,
Doxy

t.l.h.heller said...

yikes, i am with you...i should have said so before taking off on a theme i have been stalking awhile...there is, indeed, dichotomy out there in nature, and i'll defend that viewpoint if i have to--for the pleasure of digging up paradoxes if nothing else! ;-}

..and i'll testify to the presence of God in gay marriage and everywhere else there is the ''marriage of true minds'' and hope She does, indeed, reveal a little more glory to those who doubt His omnipotence in creating and loving and honoring all people on ''this fragile earth our island home...''

....and in the temporary absence of sensibility and faith among last week's californian majority, hooray for connecticut!

...heisenberg, heisenberg....

Jan said...

Good points, both of you, especially the post.