Both

 

Patty Duke Show Theme Song

Where Cathy adores a minuet,
The Ballet Russe, and crepe suzette,
Our Patty loves to rock and roll,
A hot dog makes her lose control
What a wild duet!

Still, they're cousins,
Identical cousins and you'll find,
They laugh alike, they walk alike,
At times they even talk alike

Because they ARE both!

My college roommate, with whom I reconnected after 50 years is a short, secular, Democrat, Jew, who loves the outdoors.  I am a tall, spiritual, Republican, Catholic, who loves cities.  So we have nothing in common? Must be enemies correct? WRONG!  Not only were we roommates, we backpacked around Europe together.  Like Mutt and Jeff, we are a pair, just like Cathy and Patty on the old Patty Duke TV Show.  Because we are both, not one or the other.  An absolute is both, not one or the other either.  There are three outcomes, win, loss, tie.  But if there is only one absolute, being both is the only way that opposite positions can come together.  Concentrating on only one position or the other is wrong. United we stand, divided we fall, and all that jazz.

Ten Commandments

 

If I had A Hammer

If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between
My brothers and my sisters
All over this land, uh

What if the Ten Commandments were only warnings

A toddler hears the warning “Don’t touch the stove” as a commandment, which to some people is only a dare.  Instead it was intended by the toddler’s guardian as a warning of the risks of touching a hot stove.  It was not intended as an arbitrary rule to see if the guardian would be obeyed, but a loving  warning of the risks of touching a stove that may burn you if you are unlucky and it is hot. The warning is that the risk is NOT  worth the reward. 

The Bible was written in Hebrew, not English.  I have blogged previously that because of a mistranslation of dominion for steward, the passage should have really been,  Genesis 1:26: “And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have stewardship over fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepth upon the earth.” 

Maybe they aren’t the Ten Commandments after all.  Maybe they are the Owner’s Manual about how we are supposed to operate our lives.   Kinda puts a different spin on it, doesn’t it.  The owner’s manual is not an arbitrary set of rules.  It is how to best operate that piece of equipment. Please read it and heed the warnings.