One thing that has not changed significantly with the quarantine is my morning routine.Usually I rise around 7:00 am. After necessary morning exercises, I will spend time in devotional reading followed with reading blog posts from various sources I have in Feedly. Those posts cover a wide range of subjects including theology, religion, politics, news, opinion, personal journals, etc. Next comes e-mails,most of which are subscribed, ads or spam, with occasional personal ones.
I have made a conscious effort to include sources that cross the divisions in our society. Under close scrutiny, I’m sure my biases would be exposed. At the least, they provide plausible deniability of prejudice and evidence of some semblance of open-mindedness.
As you might imagine, the amount of information can be daunting. It requires discipline to sort and prioritize my reading. Some days I resist FOMO (fear of missing out) and hit delete. Some days are a marvelous adventure, with one beautiful idea, thought, insight after another overflowing my cognitive bucket. At the point of saturation, I resort to Evernote and Notes to squirrel away nuggets for another time. For people with normal lives(?), this may sound OCD. I rationalize away that possibility by reminding myself that I am retired, old and can afford the expenditure of time and energy. (Ok, I said it’s a rationalization.)
I hear some mumbling, What is this all about and what does it have to do with “In the Middle”? Glad you asked.
Today’s reading included a post from Lee Camp’s “Tokens Show” blog. The post entitled “Humility and the Art of Politics: An Interview with Bill Haslam” included a transcript of the interview. The idea of being in the middle came to mind reading a portion of the transcript. I subsequently listened to the entire interview and highly recommend it. There is a link to the podcast on the blog page.
IN THE MIDDLE
For several decades I have been in the middle. By that, I mean my understandings and beliefs with regard to religion, theology, politics, science, and other areas could be located in the middle of a long continuum bounded by extremes. In a pluralistic society, being in the middle can be risky. This was particularly true for me, since I reside in the right quadrant of the continuum. Despite the inevitability of conflict and disagreement, being the middle affords opportunity to engage both left and right. The span of the middle was broad, giving latitude where one might settle between extremes. Over the years I found the middle increasingly desirable place to be.
Things have changed. With the advent of culture wars and political polarization, the middle has become more like “no man’s land” of WWI trench warfare. A dangerous place where only heroes and fools enter. Unlike 1919, the is no pause for a sacred night, or a pandemic. Opposing forces pledged to destroy their enemies are poised to attack anyone entering the middle. Fewer are willing venture into the middle seeking unity and peace, the price is too high.
The continuum’s shallow bell curve of earlier years has been inverted to a U curve. The span of the middle has narrowed and extremes have heightened. Participation in the middle has diminished with the increase of resentment and rejection. Change has progressed slowly, but steadily over past decades. The current pandemic has put the depth of the U curve in sharp relief. “No man’s land” is deadly for all who enter.
As a “middle man” I am keenly aware of the peril. although not in mortal danger, relationships, influence and acceptance are at risk. there is a cost and it becoming more expensive. With increased costs, the herd in the middle is being thinned out.
Some thoughts on being in the middle after listening to Bill Haslam:
1. I have concluded that Christ followers should reside in the middle. (That is worthy of serious, in-depth conversations and I am fully aware of its implications)
2. Listening to the Haslam interview I was surprised and a bit perplexed when I realized the most likely group to accompany Christ followers in the middle are elected public servants (aka politicians). By virtue of being elected in a pluralistic society, politicians reside in the middle, always contending with contrasting views. (not withstanding gerrymandering, of course).
3. Understanding we are in the same foxhole gives me more empathy for politicians, heroes and fools.
4. Haslam, former governor of Tennessee and a Christ follower provided insights into the apparent paradox of being a Christ follower in the middle. I believe they can be helpful in thinking about how and why Christ followers should reside in the middle.
Excerpts from Bill Haslem interview
There were times when I would do things that had conservatives really mad at me, and then liberals really mad at me the next day.
Always remember, the other fellow might be right.
If you asked me if I had a message for Christians that enter the public arena in any form, whether as a candidate, as somebody that’s supporting a cause or whatever it is, you start with this idea that we can argue a lot about what the Bible says about a lot of different topics. The one thing we cannot argue with is we’re called to humbleness and we’re called to gentleness, and we’re called to being open to reason.
You know, the word tolerance I think has gotten overused and misused. Tolerance I don’t think is supposed to be anything goes and whatever you believe is just fine and can be true too. I think we are called to be open and willing to listen. And I think that’s what tolerance actually means. It doesn’t mean that whatever you say is true, I’m fine with it, because I don’t believe that, but it does mean I’m supposed to be open to listening to understand what it is you believe.
“I always remind myself that no matter what they think about me, they don’t know the half of it, that I’m way worse than you think I am.”
So much to think about.