{"id":1085,"date":"2013-09-26T04:53:28","date_gmt":"2013-09-26T09:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1085"},"modified":"2013-09-26T12:12:15","modified_gmt":"2013-09-26T17:12:15","slug":"poem-tracing-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2013\/09\/26\/poem-tracing-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Tracing Humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tracing Humanity<\/strong><\/h1>\n

They say that<\/span>
\nYou can tell<\/span>
\nA lot<\/span>
\nAbout a person<\/span>
\nBy what they do<\/span>
\nThis, of course, is on track<\/span>
\nStill, there is a better weigh<\/span>
\nThe difference between animals and humans<\/span>
\nThat which earthly scales can’t fathom<\/span>
\nConsider what someone won’t do<\/span>
\nTo trace their humanity<\/span>
\nThe difference between can’t and won’t<\/span>
\nThat sacred space<\/span>
\nWhere freedom occupies<\/span>
\nAnd character reins<\/span>
\nCryptic secrets contain<\/span>
\nNot in the telling<\/span>
\nBy lyings in the sand<\/span>
\nBut outlined simply in chalk<\/span>
\nAfter words fly<\/span>
\nAnd beings are grounded<\/span>
\nYou can judge one’s humanity<\/span>
\nBy where they stand<\/span>
\nAnd where they won’t<\/span><\/p>\n

Many folks assert that you are what you do. \u00a0This may be correct, but it is not the complete story of who we are. \u00a0All ethics and morality implies some restraint of power, refusing to do something that we have the power to do. \u00a0If we have no choice in the matter, no power to choose anything differently, then you are no more bound by ethics than a billiard ball. \u00a0Certainly there are aspects of our lives that are out of our control and these aspects define us to a certain extent. \u00a0In addition, our lives are defined by the choices we make, sculpting a positive manifestation of who we are, an example to others. \u00a0However, to fully trace our humanity beyond the motion of molecular physics and merely measuring external behaviors, we need to ascertain that which we will not do. \u00a0This will more fully complete the outline of our integrity and character, defining our humanity. \u00a0Because ethics and morality imply restraint, there is an irreducible type of rebellion at the heart of spirituality — the refusal to do something simply because one can. \u00a0In popular psychology, such limits are called boundaries, and boundaries are considered essential to our well being. \u00a0These boundaries, the outlines of our humanity, are marked not by words, but by our very selves, whatever skin we have in the game. \u00a0What we are willing to die for fleshes out what we are willing to live for.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, many “heady” folks get lost in the puzzling reality that we must voluntarily limit our freedom, in the face of questionable authority, in defining ourselves. \u00a0While capturing the rebellion at the heart of spirituality, many are extremely uncomfortable claiming any authority. \u00a0They get lost in a related conundrum: by what authority do we question authority? \u00a0I believe that the truth that is contained in this conundrum is that an irreducible amount of faith is present in skepticism. \u00a0Faith is unavoidable! \u00a0What we choose, and refuse to choose, manifests our faith to the world. \u00a0I believe that the uncertainty, or tentativeness, that pervades the human condition, is evidence that remaining open is a fundamental way of of being congruent with reality. \u00a0Of course, an irreducible amount of tentativeness need not result in perpetual indecisiveness, just openness. \u00a0This openness also speaks to a dynamism in life where we adapt and grow in response to changing conditions — may we not settle for less!<\/p>\n

Every great spiritual tradition is aimed at openly moving beyond our self, nurturing that\u00a0irreducible amount of faith present even in skepticism, and not settling for a “self” contained logic or worldview. \u00a0This process can lead to greater harmony within our own experience and within the world we live in.<\/p>\n

When I see people caught up in recursive conundrums, cursing over and over in frustration, I find this perfectly captured by the French word “oubliette,” which is a little place of forgetting, a small, windowless room where someone is locked away, forgotten, left to go mad. \u00a0May you not forget to nurture that irreducible amount of faith present even in skepticism. \u00a0Denying that you have any faith is maddening, and the surest route to a room without a view. \u00a0Faith is unavoidable; enjoy the view.<\/p>\n

Sometimes believing is seeing. \u00a0Changing our perspective allows to see more of reality. \u00a0Plus, how we view a situation helps form that situation. \u00a0Like I used to say to my kids, with the not uncommon reluctance to go to school, “You don’t have<\/em> to go to school, you get<\/em> to go to school.” \u00a0The same situation with a different attitude changes that situation. \u00a0May you find that glorious balance of serenely accepting that which you have no choice about, wholeheartedly jumping into that which you may, and stubbornly resisting that which you cannot take with serenity and a whole heart.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tracing Humanity They say that You can tell A lot About a person By what they do This, of course, is on track Still, there is a better weigh The difference between animals and humans That which earthly scales can’t … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[353,434,400,435,336,341,335,437,428,432,115,446,431,305,436,63,359,475,155,81,354,413,658,94,110,491,395,601,433,128,463,412,321,30,545,421,550],"class_list":["post-1085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-attitude","tag-authority","tag-balance","tag-character","tag-choices","tag-control","tag-conundrum","tag-ethics","tag-experience","tag-faith","tag-freedom","tag-harmony","tag-heart","tag-humanity","tag-integrity","tag-kids","tag-life","tag-logic","tag-moral","tag-morality","tag-perspective","tag-physics","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-present","tag-psychology","tag-reality","tag-rebellion","tag-sacred","tag-secrets","tag-serenity","tag-skepticism","tag-spiritual","tag-spirituality","tag-truth","tag-worldview"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Tracing Humanity | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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