...those matters that make wild the hearts of men.

I still succumb to Facebook as I have family and friends online and it is nice to share memories and photos. However, I find it interesting that even on the 'social networks' there is still the anger-model of current event discussions and position-taking that tends to create divisive thinking. Sometimes it is overt and sometimes quite subtle.

The birth of a distant cousin, nostalgic reminders of a hometown, or the photos of loved ones are still enjoyable to encounter and reminds one of the benefits of social networking. On the other hand, the political or social rants where one stakes out an opinion and challenges another creates the false dichotomy of challenge and response. A posting this morning, from a dear relative, was an image that said, "It is Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays" along with a "share if you agree."

In many faith traditions - and, come to think of it, at countless community events - there is the 'call-and-response' where a leader or speaker will present issues in a manner designed to generate a response from the audience: applause, shouts of agreement, or simple 'yes' or 'amen' utterances. The call can be, "Are you with me?" Or, "We won't stop fighting for your rights!" Or any number of stem-winding and us-versus-them comments that try to form agreement of the audience with the speaker's agenda.

It seems we are so programmed to look for competition and controversy and to desire (or be encouraged) to choose a side where we can join a cause and then seek to diminish those who hold a different view. Perhaps it is because we like the 'juice' and charge that comes from a sense of battle or competition; we seem to be wired that way. However, that 'shenpa' (marvelous Tibetan Buddhist concept) tends to lead to hardness of heart, anger, self-righteous behavior, and at its nearly inevitable progression to argument, to hatred, and, in the case of true us-versus-them action: violence and war.

The solution - simple sounding but so difficult to practice - is to not take the bait and 'bite the hook' (as Pema Chodron speaks of) so that we take that small millisecond between the 'call' and the 'response' to realize - in that moment of delightful clarity - that we don't need to escalate the separateness but rather can look on the 'call' as merely one persons opinion that we can choose to acknowledge but not to escalate or join with the anger.

In today's hyper-connected world, to seek solitude or ignore current events is considered technological apostasy and the inevitable accusations of Luddite thinking creates its own us-versus-them binary. The desire to 'turn off and tune out' the 24/7 cycle of information or seek seclusion in meditation is considered anti-social or given a 'tsk-tsk-tsk' by others. That is fine. Curiously, there was a posting on Facebook that I found appropriate: 'You don't have to attend every argument you're invited to."

Namaste'....