Choose Wisely

Think about this. Human beings are the only creatures in all of Creation that can refuse to be themselves. No giraffe wishes they could fly, no fish wake up complaining about the water, no alligators make New Year’s resolutions to be kinder and more compassionate. But throughout all of time and in all places, we flawed humans constantly refuse the gifts of our incarnation.What sets apart from other animals is not just bi-pedalism, opposable thumbs and language. It is our capacity to feel and think, embedded in the very structure of our brain. And yet do we feel and think at our highest level?

 

Neurology 101 tells us that our brain stem shares the same qualities as reptiles (indeed, all creatures), a survival instinct that requires no thought or feeling, just action reduced to flight, fight or freeze. That’s about the range of a cold-blooded reptile’s or bird’s or bug’s capacity, but rather than replace it in the mammal’s brain, evolution then adds another layer capable of feeling and necessary to those who nurse and nurture their young. The former lay eggs and move on with their life, but the warm-blooded mammal learns to care for another, even if only for a short time. That second layer of the brain, the cortex, sits over the first so the necessary survival instinct remains intact, but the capacity to care, to feel affection and ultimately love becomes possible. We share this with all mammals and indeed, some will testify that their dog’s love and affection is superior to their married partner’s.

 

Then come humans, those physically inferior creatures with less ability to hear and see and smell and run and fight that many of their fellow animals. For us to survive and prosper, we needed another layer of the brain capable of both concrete and abstract thought. And so the neo-cortex covers the cortex and the brain stem. Aided by language to communicate, bi-pedal posture that leaves our hands free to make things and opposable thumbs that allow for further nuances when constructing technologies, we become the Earth’s thinking creatures not only capable of great intellectual achievement, but also imaginative capacities. We are perhaps the only creatures cognizant of time and mortality who can consciously project ourselves into the future and reach back into the past, who can read a book and feel like we’re in a different time and place even though we physically are not. We are the only creatures who can choose whether to accept the full measure of our human promise. 

 

And that’s where the catastrophe begins. The Mafia hit man choosing to live in the brain stem is a lower life form and more dangerous than the rattlesnake, who at least will generally only bite you when threatened. The parents who abuse and abandon their young, the killers in school mass shootings and the gun manufacturers who arm them and the NRA members who support them, are a lower life form than any mammal on God’s earth. The scientists who use their capacity for complex thought to build nuclear weapons or invent theories of racial superiority or create elaborate Ponzi schemes to rob their fellow humans are the lowest of the low, using the inherited gift of human birth to wreak havoc, cause harm and threaten the very continuity of life. 

 

At the other end of the spectrum is the long line of those who have chosen wisely to use the full measure of our human potential, to bring, share and reveal beauty and truth and love to all of humanity. Who have wholly accepted and nurtured and cultivated our capacity for nuanced feeling, critical thought, unleashed imagination, deep compassion and kindness. They abound in our history of genuine spiritual teachers, poets, philosophers, novelists, artists, musicians, humanistic scientists whose names we know and millions who we don’t, including our next-door-neighbors who brought over a fruitcake to us at Christmas and volunteered to water our garden when we’re off on a trip. 

 

In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, the character Lee is discussing a Biblical passage (Genesis, 4^th chapter) translated in some versions as “Do thou triumph over sin” and in others “Thou shalt triumph over sin.” The first feels like a command, the second like a prophecy. But another translation of the Hebrew word “timshel” is “Thou mayest” which gives a choice. As Lee explains: 

 

“There are millions in their sects and churches who feel the order “Do thou” and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in “Thou shalt.” Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But “Thou mayest!” Why, that that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for…he has still the great choice…A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. …But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man“ (p. 301)

 

There you have it. Timshel. Choose. And choose wisely. Especially in this election year.