One of the greatest challenges of the human condition is learning to reconcile the inherent tension that comes from accepting this about our collective truth: We are both.
Both small and big.
Both soil and stardust.
Both sinew and spirit.
The shallowness of our shared humanity will always juxtapose the fathomless depths of our being. At all moments, we are both students and teachers. We are both closed and open. We are both finite and limitless.
We are consistently inconsistent.
Which means one of our great challenges here is to acknowledge the fact that our lives are not an either/or proposition.
To stop trying to shove ourselves into boxes and cram ourselves into categories, because we are all of it. And we’re none of it. Often at the same time.
To accept the unresolved parts of ourselves. To find peace in the in-betweens. To spend half our time checking our egos, and the other half reaffirming our shattered sense of worth. To remember that we are at the same time a drop in the ocean and, as Rumi said, “the ocean in a drop.”
And once we’ve come to terms with our own messy truth; once we’ve accepted our own duality, leaned into the tension of who we are, and found the strength to not only forgive but celebrate our profound polarity– We are called to pay it forward.
Because chances are if we are both, everyone else must be, too.
We are, indeed, a dichotomy. In the Bible, Paul refers to it has the flesh vs. spirit and keynotes the fact that we often do what we don’t want to do and don’t do what we want to do. Like you said, consistently inconsistent. So many things are simple, it is we who are complex. I have to admit that I am analytical and to accept the unresolved parts is very hard. But I also see the wisdom in it. Keep these bites coming!