Balancing Act

We seem to do best with threes

Maybe it’s their symmetry,

Their image of a seesaw.

Two weights and a fulcrum:

Faith, hope and love,

Life, liberty, and happiness.

Government, market, individual

Wealth, health and long life.

But litany leaves out examination:

How much the parts weigh,

Or how we keep them in balance?

For it is the balance that counts

Rather than putting weight

On just one element.

Our lives have lost their balance.

The temptation of easy choice

Has never been stronger.

The new common has become

To “know” what is “true ”,

“Apply” what is “known” and

To skip real evaluation.

All that divides us.

There may be a way forward:         

Learn one thing well

Take action in its favor

Figure out what happened.

And while you’re at it:

Apply what you’ve learned,

Encourage others likewise

And respect each other.

Try that and we may find

A place to stand straight,

Together in belief and practice.

Not on some storied patch

In an imagined past,

But on one that’s present and real,

Where all boots find traction.

Sounds  corny and naïve?

A thankless, lonely task?

Yeah, all of those things,

At least to start with.

The way ahead has hazards,

But it’s the right path,

If you and I can’t balance on it,

Tell me who will.

      Charles B. Neff,

      9/20/14