In the Land of Both/And

Left, right.

Black, white.

They tell us we live in the land of either/or.

If you’re against this, you’re for that

If you say yes to them, you say no to us.

If you choose up instead of down

Dark instead of light

You choose soft instead of hard

Fierce instead of favor

It’s easy to see sides

But the land of either/or does not exist

We live in a land of both/and

Life is a spectrum

of color and choice

It’s harder here

To know what to do

Choices aren’t as clear

And decisions are a little fuzzy

That is why there is war

in the land of either/or

“You must see my way

my why

my right

my conviction

my choice

as the right one.”

It’s harder here

in the land of both/and

where light is both

matter and wave

Where particles behave

differently when observed

Where people have

Different Knowings

Different experiences

Different tastes

Different understanding

Where what we know of others

is only what we can observe

and it’s easier to paint the other side as

the villain

It’s harder here

in the land of both/and

where each of us

in our full humanity

are both love and loss

both conscientious and confused

both sorrow and joy

both anger and laughter

both betrayal and devotion

both selfish and selfless

both proud and ashamed

both in pursuit of separateness and pursuit of unity

We are all a muddled mix

of dreams and draws and disasters and disappointments

When we don’t know which way to choose

the best we can do

the highest calling in our humanity

is to look into the eyes of the other

and see ourselves reflected back

We are

all connected

all concerned

all cornered

all called

To believe that we are not all one

is to tear the inner soul in two

and break apart the deepest parts of our human and divine