Polarize

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy" (Ernest Benn).

It is not at all coincidental to me that Election Day in the United States is ushered in annually by a holiday that is all about tricks, goblins, masks, and fear. The dark tide starts rising in September, and society as a whole seems to ride the tide of cynicism and fear until around Thanksgiving when we are feeling good again. Perhaps it was wisdom on the part of Congress in 1845 to establish a permanent Election Day to fall after the bliss of summer and before the joy of the holidays, coinciding with the time of year when all color and life seems to fall into decay and the realities of winter set in...

On the ballot this year in Denver is a City and County Ordinance to determine whether or not Denver should create an "extraterrestrial affairs commission to help ensure the health, safety, and cultural awareness of Denver residents and visitors in relation to potential encounters or interactions with extraterrestrial intelligent beings or other vehicles..."

I kid you not.

This, ironicly, from the same city that legalized "medical marijuana" not too long ago....

But I digress.

Like many Americans, I find myself somewhere in the middle of it all wondering where the moderate voices are and why everything seems so polarized to the "right" and the "left". I hear about this "massive middle" but see no signs of it anywhere as if its presence were merely ethereal in nature. Our political candidates seem to represent the extremes but miss the majority middle who want neither in office. Our churches seem split along lines of right and left, trumpeting their causes, all claiming to be on the "side of God" yet fighting against brother and neighbor.

We divide and conquer one another on TV ads, religious publications, and in our day to day interactions. We are bombarded with information and images and inculcations that seem to stifle sanity and mute God's Spirit.

And who is above it?

No matter how "right" we may be, if we don't bear on our lives the defining mark of love, our words, our politics, our positions are nothing. We do not need to draw up the battle lines, choose sides, and march head-long into the conflagration. If we are engaged in battle, it is a battle we have chosen. Perhaps the middle is so silent because of its refusal to be dragged into the maelstrom. Perhaps they have chosen another Way.

At the end of the day, I have a great respect for those who disregard the fray and go quietly on their way serving the God and humanity they love, not drawing attention to themselves or jostling for position among men. Peace-makers are often hated people, a judgment they are willing to accept from those who have drawn the battle lines.

Their loyalty extends beyond the battle lines.