As we passed the equator from the northern to southern hemisphere, I contemplated the predicament. If you live on the equator, there are no seasons. Every day is the same 12 hours of sun and 12 of night. Sunrise and sunset are at the same time. Then I thought, what if you stood on the equator and straddled it. You could be in two places at once, both in the northern and southern hemisphere. How can this be? It is a physical law, you cannot be in two places at once. This is a conundrum that has been debated from the beginning of time. The duplicitous concept of the one versus the two. The New Testament says, "One cannot serve two masters," and it also says, "Man cannot live on bread alone." Akiba said, "If I am only for myself, who am I ?" But, Judaism says you can only worship one God. What am I getting at here?
How to be? Can we be wholly devoted to something, a job, marriage, family, religion, political party, hobby, a football team or ourselves? How can we choose between one or the other? How can we hold two thoughts at once? Can we be totally devoted to something yet not be blinded by our ambition?
A wise man named Marv once said, "don't tell me what someone is doing wrong, tell me what they are doing right." But he also said, "don't underestimate the stupidity of people."
There may not be an answer to the question of one or two or a right answer between two choices. But at desert the other night, I could not decide between the chocolate cake and the chocolate souffle and I decided, why not have both?
No comments:
Post a Comment