A World of Opposites?

We have all heard it! Without the dark, we would not appreciate the light; without the clouds, the sunshine would be taken for granted; without evil, how would we recognise good? If there was no ignorance, knowledge would be meaningless. Without corruption, would we understand innocence? Is it true? Can we really not appreciate anything fully without experiencing its opposite? Is contrast essential? If not, why do we find so much contrast in this world of ours? Is our world a world of opposites, or do we just perceive it that way?

Let us examine these questions: If we take the claim about the need for opposites to its logical conclusion, most of the people who live in Brasil and have never journeyed outside its shores, would not appreciate the warmth and the sunshine because snow is unheard of and freezing temperatures only occur in the southern part of the country. This is clearly not the case for few peoples know more about how to make the most of sunshine than do Brasilians. There must be some other reason therefore. I wonder if contrast and conflict are not an integral part of life on earth for good reasons. Might they be an essential means for developing our character while we are here and the principal reason why we choose to come in the first place? After all, we are beings of spirit and a material world must be alien to us and requires us to make many difficult adjustments. Our character is all we take away with us when leaving the earth, so its development is clearly important. It is not difficult to argue therefore that we choose to come here because the conditions on earth are so different from those in our spiritual home that they challenge and therefore strengthen character.

Looked at from this point of view, contrast and conflict are essential to our spiritual growth in some way. To interpret them as being essential only so we can appreciate the one more fully by experiencing the other, is I believe simplistic. There is a clue to be seen here, again in Brasil. There is no shortage of poverty, violence and crime, especially in the cities and those living in shanty towns or favelas are particularly exposed to them. Many are corrupted and become part of this sad and frightening scene themselves but not all. A surprisingly large number seem able to resist the drug gangs etc., and although unable to prevent their pernicious influence, they live their own lives trying to be as supportive and helpful to others as possible. They live comparatively exemplary lives in the midst of hideous inhumanity. To me these people are closer to being angels than most of us. There lies the clue. The apparent opposites may not exist for comparison but as a test; a challenge.

This life on earth is a great adventure that is full of opportunity but also of temptation; temptation that dresses in bright clothes, promising power and happiness but in the end delivers only misery and hopelessness. Some choose to avoid the challenge by shutting themselves away from temptation but this cannot be a satisfactory response. Life is for living, not for running away! The challenge is not I believe an individual one alone. We are all beings of spirit, part of the one Great Spirit and consequently are interdependent and inter-related. A challenge to any one of us is therefore a challenge to us all. Overcoming the darker aspects of earthly life therefore is the responsibility of all. Each one of us is diminished when even a single individual falls foul of negative forces. We come here to share, not merely to take or to experience. If we can only learn this lesson and look upon earthly life as a joint venture in which we share joint and several responsibility in all matters then we can indeed create heaven on earth. The recent events in Haiti show us that challenges are not always man-made. It is easier to see our joint responsibility in the context of such an enormous catastrophe but in my view our collective duty is no less apparent in minor matters. Looked at in this way, it is not difficult to see that what is generally seen as evil, is instead an opportunity for humanity to prove itself divine.

We choose to see our world as a world of opposites but that is merely a perception. Everything that appears to be the opposite of something else depends upon your viewpoint. To the man who has dwelt underground all his life, starlight would be blinding. It is indeed the case that, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison.” Alexander Pope puts it so much more eloquently in his “Essay on Man.”

“All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction which thou canst not see,
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good.”