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The nightly news, politics, or current events continually leave us shocked, discouraged, and certain that our world is completely screwed up, and getting worse. Do you every find yourself thinking that the world would be better if it weren’t for “those people” who are causing all the problems.

Our divided country exposes some powerful but latent realities. The first is our deficient binary way of thinking and the second is that we can all imagine a world better than it is.

Our world desperately needs healing, but the answer isn’t found in arguing both sides of the countless issues. Wake up people! Picking a team abdicates our power to those who profit from the fight. Most “News” is a mere decoy.

The problem is not WHAT we think, but HOW we are thinking! We can’t live better than we think.

The information on both sides is only as good as the framework (epistemology) we put it in. Since our default framework is BINARY thinking, we package information like a light switch into on/off, either/or, good/bad, right/wrong.

Each side keeps gathering information as ammunition and sucks us into its vortex. Binary frameworks are irresolvable and only produce war. Peace is a byproduct of Truth which is always ternary (three).

It’s not as though only one side has the truth. Only the lowest perspective will argue whether it is daytime or nighttime. The transcendent perspective proves that both opposites are completely true at the same time by resolving them into a third, higher Truth.

We need not abandon our position in order to incorporate it into a third way or higher truth. If the masses changed HOW they think, our world would literally change overnight. Unfortunately the ego loves control, and binary thinking inflates our egos by diminishing others.

“Third way” thinking is not the same as compromise, although that can happen. Wider perspectives of Truth are integral because it transcends while including all perspectives. We all possess some measure of the Truth, yet none of us possess it all. Thus we need each other to gain a wider (third) perspective.

Imagine our surprise to learn that everything resolves itself immediately in light of the third perspective. ALL problems in our world are TRUTH problems! They are either the Truth we don’t know (apprehension) or the Truth we won’t do (application).

To change our world we must first change our minds. We must begin asking ourselves what is TRUE about opposing perspectives. Then, rather than remaining certain that we possess all truth, we must become humble and learn from the other side. This is how we gain access to the third way.

Ever notice how both sides ultimately want the same higher thing? If you can’t see this then you are too muddled in the minutia. We can all imagine a world better than it is. We do want a wonderful world for others but first we want the world to be wonderful for us. They actually go perfectly together, but the binary mind makes them two competing agendas.

Third way thinking reveals there is only one agenda: Love. We can love our enemies (Matthew 5:43) until we have none. We can love our neighbor as ourself (Mark 12:33). As we meet the needs of others, our needs are met (Jeremiah 29:7). It all comes through the path of humility.

Begin small. Start to train your brain to operate in a ternary fashion. Let your ego die. Don’t give in to it. Ego is not the REAL you, it’s your PSEUDO self. So reserve judgment and learn from one another. Let the light of another light you. 

We are fellow light bearers who each bring a unique gift to the banquet table.

The Greek word for repentance is (metanoia), it means to change ones mind. It doesn’t mean to switch teams, it means to turn a stubborn heart the other way. Humility is the path forward.

The only thing that keeps us from changing our minds is our certainty that we possess all the Truth. Do we really think this highly of ourselves? Let’s be honest. If we don’t have all the truth then our debates are with those most like us: those prideful, partial possessors of the truth. Our enemies are not “other” than us, they are just like us.

We must change our minds (repent) if our world is to be healed. Digging in our heels to our brothers/ sisters is not how we honor God, but how we oppose God (1 Peter 5:5). Resisting one another is not how we avoid compromise. Resistance is the greatest compromise of all because we forfeit our soul along with our humanity (Luke 9:25).

This only makes sense once we are free from our binary prison.