Swinging Too Far

Remember how much fun just swinging in a swing was? When you were very small, you depended on someone else to push you, but as you got older you learned how to pump yourself. If you were like most people, got where you wanted to always go higher.

You learned that an extra push just as the swing started forward would give the maximum impetus, increasing your height with each swing. Before long, you learned there was a point where if you went higher, you fell for a moment before being caught by the swing, and that resulted in a loss of momentum and having to pump to get back to that point. The sensation of falling scared most people and we tried not to get quite to that point. Those who did try found it impossible to go past a certain point by pumping themselves.

You also learned that by having someone push you, it was possible to go higher, but the fall was more pronounced and more frightening. Some times the seat would slip out from under you leaving you supporting yourself by your hands. Falls and injuries were uncommon unless someone was pushing you and got to pushing to hard.

The same principles apply to life. In the economic field, the harder we push the wilder the swings are, but left alone, the economy can only go so far before it limits itself. Unfortunately governments throughout history have tried to give economies another push, eventually resulting in collapse of the economy and frequently in the collapse of the nation, because the government could push it beyond the safe limits. Rather than trying to push it higher, trying to slow it down would enable the economy to continue moving without collapsing.

In the area of morality, we see the swings historically from the temperance movement to the roaring twenties to the standards during the fifties. In the sixties was the “sexual revolution which swung to the more restrictive standards of the late 80’s. Today we have gone to the opposite extreme. In each case we have swung more violently to the extreme.
Again, the only way to stop the huge swings is to try to stop in the middle.

Politically we are seeing the same type cycle of extremism from extreme conservatism to extreme liberalism. The vast majority of the people are in the center and feel ignored by both parties, who are only interested by their own agendas.

This trend is especially troubling in the religious realm, where God has given specific guidelines in many areas, yet time and again every effort is made to push farther to one side or the other. One group wants to totally control every action, from hair styles and clothing, to style of music while another wants to eliminate any type standard. There are the extreme KJV 1611 only and those who believe that only part of the Bible is inspired.

Sadly, in every case, the scripture sets a standard and both extremes are outside those limits. Just as in the case of the swing, if we wish to stay within the boundaries laid down by God, we need to try to slow the movement down when it is moving in the direction we think it should go so we do not swing beyond the truth. Jesus was critical of both the Pharisees and the Sadducees, although their beliefs were diametrically opposed. Essentially, the Sadducees considered religion as part of their cultural identity, having little to do with real life, while the Pharisees believed mechanically doing religious actions would make them acceptable to God with no recognition of what God had intended by the standards he set down. Jewish society constantly swung back and forth between the two standards, but both were wrong.

Years ago, we heard that one must not be in the middle of the road. I grew up driving on narrow roads on the reservation, and what I learned rather quickly was that as long as you were in the middle of the road, you were on the road. It really didn’t matter very much whether you veered to far left or too far right, you were still in the ditch, not on the road. Jesus described the way to righteousness as a narrow road. The road that is wide enough for it to matter whether you are in the left lane or the right lane is the wrong road. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

We need to focus on staying in the center, rather than getting further to one side or the other. When we swing to far in either direction, we get into danger, whether we are talking about a swing, or a road.