Life is Not so 'Black and White' Anymore

It was so much easier when life was black and white, there were very clear answers to the problems that we faced.  ‘The bible says’….and we quote a favorite scripture that puts the other person in their place.  How do we navigate the inner discussion we have when we don’t measure up to our own standards?  How do we deal with the hidden secret sins that prevail in our lives?

Life used to be so black and white.  There were right answers and wrong answers to everything.  My Dad always had the right answer, or at least he thought he did? That was partly because he was Dad, he was part of the ‘Greatest Generation’, and just the overall sense that he had to have the right answer (whether he did or not).  There was an interesting point that happened when I was in my 20’s.  I went to college and started hearing different ideas about what truth was.  In some cases they directly contradicted what Dad had told me.  It was a time of great confusion.  Who was right?  Was it Dad who I depended on and trusted or this college professor who was educated and should know the truth?  It started a series of questions and inquiries that forced me to look at things much more critically.    In addition those answers that I was so convinced of were proven false or at the very least flawed.  

            Have you found that what used to be so black and white to you are more shades of gray?  I think age does that.  The more I live my life; I see that there are many more nuances to situations and problems. For me it comes from more experiences with life, seeing other people’s pain and struggle and realizing that I could just as easily have been in their situation.  Once I realize that there is another point of view, all of my curt answers come up short, they are less than valuable and often quite ignorant.  

The political season has illuminated these dichotomies in a more profound way.  The ‘inconvenient truths’ of people experiencing pain, challenges, opportunities and struggles has impacted me deeply.  I would like to have everything in a nice, neat, black and white package. It would be so much easier, require so much less of me, and unfortunately, leave so much more devastation than an honest, grace filled, incarnational approach to these problems.  I want to do this well but find it is very difficult.