Marginal Wisdom

Reader 1: They teach us to read in black and white.

Reader 2: Truth is this—the rest is false.

Reader 3: You are whole—or broken.

Reader 2: Who you love is acceptable—or not.

Reader 1: My life tells its truth in many hues.

Reader 2: We are taught to think in "either/or"s

Reader 1: I believe the teachings of Jesus—OR Buddha.

Reader 3: I believe in human potential—OR a power beyond a single, human will.

Reader 1: I am broken or I am powerful.

Reader 2: My life embraces multiple truths, speaks of "both," of “and."

Reader 3: They teach us to see in absolutes:

Reader 2: Good versus evil.

Reader 1: Male versus female,

Reader 3: Old versus young.

Reader 3: My vision sees the fractions, the spectrum, the margins?

Reader 2: Let us open our hearts to the complexity of our worlds.

Reader 1: Let us make our own lives a sanctuary, to nurture our many identities.

Reader 2: The day is coming when they will know:

Reader 1: That the rainbow world is more gorgeous than monochrome;

Reader 3: That a river of identities can ebb and flow over the static, stubborn rocks in its course;

Reader 2: That the margins hold the center.