Both...And

The human condition is competitive. Whether it is in sports or in everyday life, we are seemingly always competing for things. Our children learn early that competition is healthy and brings all the creature comforts that the world says they need to be truly happy. The Olympic Games come on the T.V. and it's all about who's first, no one talks to the Olympian who comes in 8th out of 8 in the finals (even though they are better than everyone except 7 persons in the world at their sport). It appears on first glance that it is and either-or world...either you're first or you're last. This kind of competitive (exclusionary) thinking leaves a lot of people out of the competition. There are neighborhoods in the U.S. where 50% of the kids don't graduate from High School. I live in a place where I don't know anyone who's child not only graduates from High School, but graduates with multiple AP courses completed and a choice of Ivy League colleges competing for their time and money. Is that really what we were created for?! The G-d that I follow works out of a principle of distributive justice - all good things for all G-d's people. It is a principle of both...and; my wife likes to say "have my cake and eat it too". That's how G-d works when we get out of the way. How is it that we live in a created world and have gotten so far away from sharing equally in all that we have been gifted with? When we survey all of the social injustice that humans have created against each other, it is a wonder that we have been able to live at all. Case-in-point, look at the amount of money we spend each day on healthcare in the U.S. Those with more money or better jobs (likely due to better education secondary to living in better neighborhoods) get adequate or designer healthcare. Those who are less fortunate, well, they get whatever they can find and afford. The American Hospital Association says that there's no way they can follow the new governmental guidelines to help people post-discharge take care of themselves - too costly and too difficult. Either/or or Both/and...? What's the best solution for all of us? We have a world full of either/or, but G-d calls us to both/and. How about you? What's your life narrative? Are you running a competitive race or are you thinking that there's something more that you're called to? Over the course of the next bit of time, consider which of the social injustices taht you're being called to address. Remember, G-d calls us into relationship...into both/and. Peace for the journey, Dan