By Ron Baker
I’ve coined a new syndrome that needs to be treated!
I call it the Versus Syndrome.
Local vs. National. Subscription vs. Ownership. Mandatory vs. Voluntary. Logical vs. Emotional. And the list goes on!
Versus Syndrome is the point at which we are blinded to others and only aware of ourselves. Wherever we stand on the side of the “versus” statement, we have chosen not to listen to the other side. Meanwhile, adhering to the extreme of either side of the versus statement leads to war – and that is killing us.
Mental health is affected. Physical health is affected. Spiritual health is affected.
The term health here relates to defining terms we have used over the past few decades. Terms such as flourishing, thriving, balanced, hopeful.
In contrast to these terms are such things as merely coping, surviving and living with therapy-induced acquiescence to selfishness.
From a recent quote I heard regarding land settlements in Canada, we can either share the space with others or spend time defining boundaries. Sharing the space indiscriminately may create permanent destruction to the space (not everyone plays nice). Defining the boundaries excessively may create unnecessary exclusion of others (not everyone’s motives are evil).
There is truth on both sides of the equation. Whether that truth is merely a frail and collapsing thread or perhaps an unassailable anchor’s cable, both sides should seek to understand what that truth is. Other than God, I don’t think any of us knows all the truth. The truth sets you free, which means we don’t exclude part of the truth in order to benefit our own prejudice. At the same time, we are not naive, believing that thread of truth or that cable of truth are not being used for evil purposes. I’m constantly crying out for discernment to separate truth from selfish ambition!
Our best approach to the Versus Syndrome.
Open hearts, open eyes, open homes, open ears, open minds. Openness.
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