The Weapon of Neutrality

I am neu­tral on a greater and greater range of sub­jects and sit­u­a­tions these days. Being neu­tral has become my first line of action. We live in a world of forced dichotomies. No mat­ter the sub­ject, you are expected to line up on one side or the other of the con­tro­ver­sial fence and then duke it out. It keeps the coun­try divided. In fact, it divides the divi­sions into smaller and smaller units until almost no one agrees fully on any­thing. It can even degen­er­ate into the divided self — a never-ending inner debate process that turns our think­ing processes into men­tal court rooms, with the tone of cheap talk shows and “news” dis­cus­sion programs.

The more Ori­en­tal smile of neu­tral­ity allows for time to pon­der and some gen­tle dis­tance. Not every­thing needs my approval or dis­ap­proval. In fact, I am com­ing to love a more “that’s just the way it is” approach to it all. Scan­dal sells. Per­sonal dra­mas arise to make pseudo prob­lems big­ger and strengthen self-righteousness feel­ings of judg­ment and disdain.

Jesus was let in on a lit­tle gos­sip once about what Herod had said about him. His response was to sym­bol­i­cally send a word back to Herod (that he called the Fox) that his life and min­istry would con­tinue unabated. He would not be intim­i­dated nor conned into a defen­sive pos­ture. In essence, Jesus response was: “So what!”

I use “so” as one of my favorite responses (uttered silently). Under extreme cir­cum­stances, I use the double-barreled “So what?” I do not need a rush of scan­dal adren­a­line. The com­i­cal is more fun any­way. The dis­tance keeps me from being sucked into a whirlpool of win­less bick­er­ing. I have stepped into sub­ject quag­mires before and regret­ted the efforts I put into them. They are dis­tract­ing. They drain ener­gies needed for bet­ter things.

It is not that I do not have any pref­er­ences (though I am reduc­ing that list too). I am just real­iz­ing a lit­tle bit of the “called out of the world” dynamic. Being upset about some­thing beyond my con­trol is really kind of an ego thing for atten­tion. I am catch­ing myself at my own game a lit­tle better…and smil­ing. The world does not have to know how I feel about some­thing. Bet­ter yet, I do not need a soap box to announce a “me too” to the world. Instead, the foot wash­ing cloth of prac­ti­cal­ity is pre­ferred. Hum­ble actions instead of pro­nounce­ments, posi­tions, and policies…at your feet rather than in your face.