Black & White
I remember being warned as a kid not to view too many things as black & white. I’d eventually realize, these sages said, that the world is painted in shades of gray.
They were right in a superficial sense. Things very often look too gray & squishy to make an solid judgement or decide whether to stand by a principle. It isn’t as effortless as building a neat little syllogism out of your values.
→ Actions that violate value A are morally wrong.
→ Choice B violates value A.
→ Therefore, choice B is morally wrong.
Things involving people don't allow you that luxury. There are too many annoyingly complex variables in play: feelings, intentions, biases, social dynamics, timing, language, perceptions, and so on. You can quickly get swallowed up in an avalanche of nuance, and after some time trying to find which way is up, you start to wonder if direction itself is just a made-up social construct.
The sages who gave that advice left the impression that embracing life’s grayness would bring a certain peace. I wouldn’t need to worry about things I can't control, I'd become more emotionally resilient and open-minded.
But so far, every attempt to live this way has brought more apathetic numbness than ease. A tragedy strikes or an injustice is made, and I feel morally neutered because “it’s not that black & white.” I start submitting to trials with “it is what it is,” and sit on my big, dumb, lazy butt because “it’s easier said than done.” It's a debilitating way to live, especially when we all secretly know the ambiguity can only go so deep. There’s concreteness down there somewhere.
Anyway. I’m now doubting that the obscurity we hide behind is as thick as we say. I think the world is more black-and-white than it appears, and we’d see that more clearly if we reconsidered the values & convictions that are supposedly too naive for the modern era. If we acknowledge the difference between right & wrong, wisdom & foolishness, and if we live like they exist, maybe a lot of the forks in the road really are navigable with a syllogism.
(It’d be nice if it was all documented somewhere. Like in an old set of books that’ve withstood the tumult of history, proven themselves applicable to every tribe and tongue, and promise to never pass aw — wait.)
Being more honest about all this sooner would’ve saved me a lot of grief over the years. Many a time have I invoked my special, “not-so-black-and-white” circumstances to excuse plainly wrong things: pornography, gossip, anger, jealousy, greed. Or denigrate plainly good things: humility, obedience, self-denial, deliberate avoidance of temptation. It’s shocking how good I can be at muddying the water so I can’t see the venomous snake sitting below the surface. I use the same tricks as the snake in the garden: "Did God actually say this is technically a sin? Because this particular translation was derived from the Latin Vulgate and if we rather read this translation from the perspective of the of the ancient church, we’ll see that it really means the opposite and…"
I am thankful these truths are stubborn. Even when totally ignored, they’re loudly vindicated by the consequences that unfold. The pain proves their worth. Praise God for not holding it over our heads with a patronizing “I told you so.” They’re just as available as they were before, the promises are just as binding, and the rewards are just as real. Those are black & white facts.
...if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
— 2 Chronicles 7:14
For the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
— Proverbs 24:16
Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.
— Psalm 119:165
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
— 1 John 2:17