Live in Tension

I finally am getting it. We have become a society of children, who can leave our sandboxes and play in just the perfect ones. With Twitter and Facebook we can "invisible" those we do not agree with, ignore them, or cast them so far out of our reaches that through those avenues they will never see us again. Great! But is it?

I love the Episcopal Church because in it we live in tension. "Are you a low church or a high church?" "Are you conservative or liberal?" "Do you accept gays/lesbians or do you think it is a sin?" For all of those, if you asked members of the wider church you would get one answer..."yes." There are those I agree with and those that make me cringe, but we live in the tension which allows us to be exposed to the thoughts of those who disagree with us and to hear...really understand where they are coming from. Allowing ourselves to be challenged only helps us to live out our humanity. We might become firm in our previous understanding, and yet we might be changed.

One political leader right now is getting lambasted over "flip flops" but whatever happened to changing one's mind. In my own short lifetime I have been pro-gun and anti-gun, pro-life and pro-choice, pro-death penalty and anti (pro-life again), and none of these at a predictable same time! In fact I have been back and forth more than once over each of these issues. In fact if I was to be honest the Rachel Maddow talking point folks would disown me, as would the Rush Limbaugh fans. So I guess I am extracated by both to the middle...and that is where I want to be.

We keep talking about Main Street...you know what Main Street is to me? That is the place where my parents and I lived on Lemp Ave. in the San Fernando Valley. It was where I would come home during election season and find our neighbor, a republican, asking my dad, a democrat, to sign a petition. Dad politely refused, and Mr. Ramey politely went to the next neighbor...and they remained friends and neighbors! Wow! I will never forget the election night in 1980 when my parents had the Ramey's over for dinner and drinks while we all watched the election returns. When their candidate, Ronald Reagan, won over Jimmy Carter - congradulations, handshakes and hugs went around...and it was good!

Recently I read of a fan of actor James Gardner who refused to buy his autobiography, after picking it up and finding how liberal he was. The fan threw the book down (according to what I gather) and is no longer a fan. Again...wow! When did we turn into a society of Hatfields and McCoys (or Maddows and Limbaughs). What happened to thinking the other person is wrong, but still loving them?

It is time my friends to take it back. Not everyone is religious, but I am, and Jesus says to "love God and love your neighbor" (and for the lawyers out there...we learn through a parable that "neighbor" relates to anyone who crosses our path). I wonder what might happen if we all take that sound advice and stop seeing each other as the devil, and instead look upon us as the conversation that must take place so that society can move forward and thrive.

If we contine to "block," and "delete" ourselves we will finally be left...alone...standing before a mirror...and that is NOT a society.