Chapter 7/6

Living the Tension

At times truth may lie so close to one pole that it seems to be polarized. The difference is that, no matter how close to one pole, it still feels the pull of the other. Once polarized, however, we feel no tension at all–and thus, are out of touch with the real world, the world of tensions. Today, talking with you, I may sound like a flaming liberal, just like the dogmatic liberal. The difference between me and the liberal is that I am still aware of the conservative pole and the values and challenges it holds. Thus, next week, talking with her, I may sound just like a hidebound conservative. Again, however, I have not allowed myself to choose a pole, I am still in the tension, the living, moving tension. Truth, reality, and life exist along a fine line that continually moves between the poles.

Too many of us are uncomfortable with tension, change, and the relativity of living this spectrum. In our desire for stability, we want to be solidly anchored like a great oak tree. We are called, rather, to the stability of the eagle soaring high in the air, apparently with no support. The eagle, however, riding the wind currents and thermal air columns, is as secure as the oak. But it is a living security, not a fixed and static one. Life has to be engaged moment by moment. We can never lock into safety.

So learn, when confronted by an either/or situation, to stop and consider the possibility that a bipolarity is involved, in which case we should not accept the either/or that we are presented with. If the occasion is bipolar, we recognize that it is both/and, and must make a judgment about where across the spectrum we should take our stand. Make it habit always, in the face of either/or, to consider and be prepared to deal with the bipolar.