I Was Thinking... Gray

Seldom does anyone say their favorite color is gray. Red, blue, green, purple, yellow and even black may be selected but not gray. Of course, gray isn’t even a primary color, it is a mixture of black and white. There is even a controversy on how to spell it. Gray is considered neutral but can also be controversial.
Some people view life in terms of black and white. Things are either right or wrong, good or evil. They don’t like gray areas. Gray is uncertainty and thus hard to define and more uncomfortable to explain.
As a child, my parents tried to teach me right from wrong. Rules were simple at that stage of life, and we didn’t have to consider exceptions to the rules. But as I grew, I began to learn things were a lot more complicated. You found out that even churches that claimed the same God, didn’t see things the same way. The basic Sunday School lessons of love and forgiveness became less clear when denominations and synods applied a variety of theological interpretations. Things became more gray.
All the churches agreed on the 10 commandments, and it seemed so basic. Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, be honest, respect others and don’t be envious of other people’s stuff. We didn’t understand adultery yet.
But then we grew up and some of the gray came in. Don’t kill was easy until we learned about wars. Apparently, there were exceptions. There was also something called capital punishment that allowed the government to take a life. Even life itself became in question. Not everyone agreed when it started. More gray.
Stealing seems simple but what if you don’t report the cash you received on your income tax. Is it stealing or lying? If a waitress forgets to put your beverages on your bill, is it stealing if you don’t mention it. If you spend time at work checking personal e-mails, Facebook, or playing computer games, are you stealing from your employer?
Lying can be complicated because of something called manners. You just can’t call someone fat, ugly, or stupid even if they are. If you know about something illegal, but don’t say anything because you’ve never been asked, is that lying? More gray. If your wife asks if a certain pair of slacks makes her butt look big, how do you answer?
The greatest of the commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself. But does that include people of the opposing political party, those non-Christians, a gay or bisexual person, or even a Packer fan? Are there any gray areas where we can make exceptions? Does loving your neighbor include the guy holding the cardboard sign by the traffic light? Should you help him even if you have plenty or do you ignore him because it could be a scam? Spots on TV ask us to help homeless dogs or cats, sick children at St. Jude’s hospital, endangered elephants, or disabled veterans. Is there any black or white guide to help us decide who to help or is everything gray?
We’ve just completed the election season where both sides tried to convince voters that everything is black and white. If you elect their candidate, the future will be bright but if their opponent is elected, we are all doomed. Our side has all the solutions, and the other side is totally wrong. Seldom do politicians want to admit they can’t solve all the problems, or the other side has any good ideas. That would be gray.
I’ve lived 40 years under seven Republican presidents and 36 years under seven Democrats. None of them were able to solve all the nation’s problems nor bring our country to the brink of disaster. Most of them had some successes but also had a list of failures and seldom did most of the campaign promises become reality. My greatest hope is that now this is all over, we will accept the results and move on. For most of us, our lives won’t be greatly changed, because most things will remain gray anyway.
Did You Ever Wonder? — If a person tells you they’re a pathological liar, can you believe them?