"Temperance in all things..."

what a difference
a year,
a crisis,
a campaign,
a season of surrender
makes

I once thought of myself as
a liberal,
a radical,
as left as left can be
without becoming
right...

or maybe a conservative,
a constitutionalist,
a preserver of traditions, 
as right as right can be without
realizing it has orbitted
itself into
the left hemisphere...

it didn't matter which side
I chose,
I was always
out of balance
if
it was always about
choosing sides...

but I am not polarized
or hemispheric,
I am universal,
impartial,
the reflection of Love...

I am not about being right,
but
being kind.

and it all started with a moment,
on a day,
in a year
filled with
rhethoric and
rancor...

I heard
voices speaking with
an arrogant dismissiveness
that bordered
on judgment.
and I realized, that one of
those voices...was mine.

It brought me up short...

shaking me
just like junkyard puppy
by the scruff of the neck
until I
stopped my twisting
and growling
and
remembered that
how I thought about others,
how I treated them as I weighed
the issues,
how I spoke about my fellow man,
how I behaved with my neighbors...
was what really mattered...

in fact,
it was all that really mattered...

and in that moment,  
I discovered
the sweetness of
temperance,
the joy of moderation,
the radical nature
of living without opinon
or sides.

it has not been easy...

it is a
discipline more demanding
than I could
ever have imagined...

and to be honest,
I falter...too much...

but I press on,
vigilant in my mission

to quiet the mind's desire to find the
most right position, and then
stake its claim.

to starve it of its gluttony for
the right side,
its eagerness to join the ranks of those who
have found "the only way,"
its urge to plant the flag of self on
the summit of a hemisphere...
left or right,
blue or red,
liberal or conservative,
male or female, 
you or me....

It is now a joy
to temper the ego's
insatiable desire to  find
the best,
most,
only,
absolutely,
right position...

and instead,
to hold the center,
to be balanced and objective,
to stand on the fulcrum of trust,
to rest in the space of
human uncertainty, and live
in grace....

for
this is the place where

children
dwell in peace,

acceptance
reigns
over tolerance,

and love
is supreme.

I used to think that if my
views,
beliefs,
positions were unquestionably
right,
I'd come nearer the
the divine...

but I am learning
to question the extremism of
too much,
or too little,
always or never,
reckless or stingy,
abstinence or over-indulgence,
all or nothing,
glut or
dearth...

and when I do,

I am discovering the
beauty of trust....

in God,
in my fellow man,
in my own ability to think and
act temperately...

how to live in the
balance

to let prudent caution
work
with exuberant drive,

thrust and resistence
providing an
inner thermal
which lifts me
"on eagle's wings"
high above argument and 
opinion,
right and wrong,
guilt and blame,
pride and
disappointment....

to dwell in
the kingdom of heaven,
the consciousness of Love
where
the only
right
stand to take
on any issue,

is to be still,
listen without judgement,
exercise compassion,
and  trust
Him
to
moderate
each
heart.