Meet Me In The Middle

Somewhere around the 50 yard line will do...

Up until this last couple of years, we’ve been able to live with each other. We’ve been able to go to stadiums to watch football, go to concerts, watch the same shows, eat at the the same restaurants, etc. Yeah, we got on each other’s nerves. Yeah, we disagreed vigorously. But there was a level of decorum and tolerance that still existed. We weren’t infected by a narrative at every single turn. Now we have insane, entrenched division over things like:

• Mask vs. no mask

• Vaccine or no vaccine

• Go outside or stay in the house

• What’s a valid protest?

• How far is proper social distancing?

• Is “whiteness” the downfall of mankind?

• Amen and Awomen

• How many people can legally gather in a private home for a Christmas party?

• 2+2=5

• Fox or MSNBC

As you read that very short list, I’m sure the warning bells are going off. The emotions and arguments bubble right to the surface. You’re already on high alert for what’s coming next. I get it.

See, there are very powerful and influential people that need us to be completely divided on everything. They need us to hate each other, to demonize each other, and to ultimately dehumanize each other. They need teams of radical fans that are willing to go to war - figuratively and literally - for their cause.

Think about an American football field. You have two end zones, and between the end zones, you have one hundred yards. What’s happened, and what we’re feeling now, is the result of at least fifty years of intentional, coordinated division, pushing us further and harder to one end zone or the other. The result is that we have two “teams” of rabid fans and players, cheering their team on while seeking the total vanquishing of the other team. Nothing short of total humiliation and destruction of the other team will do.

The problem that I have with that, among many, is that I wholeheartedly reject that the vast, VAST, majority of us want to play that game. This isn’t a zero sum game that we want to be a part of. We don’t want an end game that sees an entire segment of society ostracized or obliterated. Yeah, it’s selfishly fun to see “them get theirs” from time to time and temporarily makes us feel happy, but is that really who we want to be?

I can’t believe that. I refuse to believe that. We don’t have to play this game.

I want to talk to the people in the middle. The people between the twenty yard lines. If we don’t take this part of the field back, there’s not going to be any more playing. One radical fringe will win, and those on the one side of the fifty yard line will slide down that tilted field into the end zone while the other side will be completely silenced. 

Then guess what happens?

That group will be divided. Then again. It’s exponential, reductionary math, until only the most radical of the radical, the most powerful of the powerful remain, and then they can recreate the world and society in their image.

If you’re on board with that elimination game, there’s nothing I’m going to say from this point on that will matter to you. I love you as a human being. I hope it turns out well for you in the end, and if at some point your end zone (either one) gets to be too terrible for you, please move back down the field and join the rest of us between the twentys. We will gladly have you.

For the rest of us who aren’t down with that zero sum end point, let’s chat. Let’s organize. Let’s love and respect each other and be willing to work through our difference. Because let’s be honest...even though we’re not down with the zero sum game, we still have deep, passionate differences. 

Hear me though...we MUST be big enough, compassionate enough, understanding enough, and humble enough to work through those issues. We must be peacemakers, not flame throwers. We’re past the point where petty division can keep us apart. We have MUCH more in common than what divides us, and for the sake of our future, our families, our nations, and our planet, we’ve got to be the servant leaders that the world is crying out for.

If we don’t unite, if we don’t rise up peacefully, and in humility - but decisively and unified for the cause of sanity and reason, a great darkness WILL overtake this world. Its banging on the doors as we speak, pushing us further and further down the field.

My goal is to bring together, equip, empower, and release those with eyes to see that this game is reality. It’s to identify those with hearts and minds that are disturbed by this fundamental transformation of our society and culture. I don’t want to live in a world where every thought, action, and intention revolves around what a politician, celebrity, social media chat, bureaucrat, or neighborhood Karen says. I certainly don’t want my kids growing up in that world - or worse.

I just want to live my damn life. I want to swim in my pool, have barbeques, celebrate Christmas, eat out with friends, go to church, and travel the world. I want to be free to work hard and create wealth and have the opportunity to serve people out of that abundance and freedom. I want to walk into a store and not feel like I’m being judged for my every action or movement. 

I want all of that for you too. If swimming or being social or traveling isn’t your cup of tea, then I want to support you in what is. I want you to pursue your own happiness, whatever that looks like to you. We don’t have to and won’t agree on what that happiness is. But I believe we can agree that if we continue this path of self-destruction, none of us will have the opportunity to enjoy that freedom to pursue that happiness. One “team” simply cannot have a monopoly on what that looks like, but if we don’t become united and agree to meet somewhere near the fifty yard line, that’s the reality.

This is not a liberal or conservative thing. This isn’t an America problem or a European problem. We’re very much past that. This is a human problem. A global problem. The condition of our collective hearts and minds are ill, and while a virus or disease of the body could and does kill us, this disease of the heart and mind will destroy much more than any virus ever could. 

I’m looking for people who are ready to stand up to this madness, confusion and fear. I’m looking for those who are awake or waking up. Not “woke”, but awake. I’m looking for those who are tired, frustrated, and fundamentally disturbed by the hate and division. I’m looking for those injured by this game, those who are trying to get OUT of those radical end zones. I’m looking for servant leaders, those willing to boldly stand for peace.

Have you been trampled, marginalized, scorned, berated, forgotten, or told to “sit down and shut up?” Welcome.

Do you believe that there’s more in common than what divides us? Welcome.

Do you no longer believe the politicians, bureaucrats, social leaders, media, or religious figures have the answers to our complex and urgent problems? Welcome. 

WE are the answer. I don’t care where you come from or what you believe. In fact I welcome that diversity, as long as you’re willing to play and struggle and fight with the rest of us between the twenty yard lines.