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Tuesday, 03 October 2006 17:42 |
 | | Marc Mullinax |
"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. Youëre not cold, youëre not hot ÇƒÓ far better to be either cold or hot! Youëre stale. Youëre stagnant. You make me want to vomit."
ÇƒÓ Jesus
ï
MARS HILL ÇƒÓ The powers-that-be in our lives (government, religion, and social convention) would have us live quiet lives of desperation, ones that rock no boat ... or ship of state. "Stay in your place, keep focused, practice moderation," we are told in multiple accents each day.
Lead a balanced life, eat a balanced diet, find a balance between work and play, balance the budget, achieve a balance of power.
Thereës
nothing more annoying than this faceless injunction to balance my life.
When Iëm pumped about my classes, I give not-a-rip about whatës
happening in Washington or Baghdad. When Tiger Woods is hot, Iëm not
"balancing my TV viewing habits" by watching a baseball team dash its
hopes of a playoff game. Balance ought to be a curse word: Balance you,
you blankety-blank Moderation Lover!
When I was a new
father, you can bet I was unbalanced. My attention was totally,
selfishly absorbed in my daughterës every need, to the complete
abandonment of balanced meals, quality time with spouse and work.
Wouldnët trade those days for anything.
Ever fallen in
love? How much original obsession is needed to sustain 25, 30, 50 years
of marriage? No balance or moderation permitted in courtship.
Playing a sport?
If winning is your aim, then balance and moderation are your mortal
enemies. As a bicycle racer, my motto remains: "If you train for second
place, why race?"
Balance is a
phantom sent to haunt us when weëre most happy, or most stressed, or
most obsessed. "Unplug, push your re-set button. Get perspective," the
phantom entices you. Yeah, right. The god of balance and moderation
would have us stay supremely cool, synchronized, and ... supremely
bored.
Letës admit: The
fear of being unbalanced is deeply rooted. The term "unbalanced" means
mentally unstable, off the deep end. We admire keepers of proportion,
who live as though they transcend their emotions, who rein in their
passions.
But why? Why is
a balanced life better than cycles of immoderate passion-immersion?
Would it be better for a Martin Luther King Jr. or Malcolm X to listen
to the white sirens of moderation? Or your favorite religionës founder
taking anonymous pathways of safety? I donët think so!
I understand the
caution. Weëre not supposed to obsess and become addicts, lest we
develop stress-related syndromes and neglect responsibilities.
But honestly,
can we not get equally addicted to balance? How long can we leave our
real needs for irresponsible passion unmet? Addictions are useful when
they redirect the raw energy of our lives to healthy ends. Are you
capable of living so addicted?
Religionës way
is not so much the safe way, but the immersion way. Let it be yours,
too. Instead of obsessing on balance, get unbalanced and let yourself
drown in the sea of an idea, a relationship, a perspective, a social
justice idea whose time has come.
Being unbalanced
in matters of faith, politics, sports, family, or work leads to depth
knowledge, to competence, to full human emotions and capacities of
caring, which in turn leads to interaction with those who do and donët
share your assumptions, which means fully participating in life and the
human family.
Go forth and be
unbalanced. If you must be moderate, do so only in moderation.
Moderates are the monkey wrenches in human progress; the extremists
have the vision, and the danger, but what is true vision without danger?
If you are serenely balanced, how can you be human? We are capable of off-balanced living. Try to enjoy it.
ï
Dr. Marc S.
Mullinax, chairman of the philosophy and religion departments at Mars
Hill College, can be reached at mmullinax-at-mhc.edu.
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