I decided it was best to start the New Year with the philosophy behind &mpersand Answers. This is its manifesto, if you will. SC

Everyone, but everyone is asking the same question. Have you noticed?

The subtext is, Yeah, I know. I feel so helpless. The question is, What can I do?

The point is … to unify and harmonize the opposites,
both positive and negative, by discovering a ground
which transcends and encompasses them both.

Ken Wilbur, No Boundary

Ken Wilbur isn’t the only one who has said this. Metaphysicians since their conception have said the same thing, too.

And this, this one thing is what it all comes down to with your every thought, word, and deed:

Is your desire to UNITE or to DIVIDE?

Because that’s what you can do, Belovèd. You can unite or you can divide. Every choice you make really boils down to just those two options.

To Unite is to choose an And way of living.
To Divide is to choose an Or way of living.

Both are legitimate.

The issue is not WWJD? Or WWMomD? Or WWOprahD? Nope. Not at all. It’s really much simpler than that:

The issue is … What would I do?

Did you look seriously at those two words posed in juxtaposition one to the other above? The thing that links them is I. Not You. Not the Church. Not the Government. Not the Cool Kids. Not the Geeks. It’s I. In fact, it’s all down to I.

In fact, it’s been all down to I since the beginning. We ignore this at our own peril, and at the peril of every other being with whom we share this planet.

What would I do?

That’s the question, and the answers will come when you begin to think of yourself as the visionary that you are. Your inherent nature is one of bringing together polarities, oppositions, and paradoxes in order to create a greater whole. This makes each one of us a natural alchemist—constantly able to see that, no matter what, two or more is always greater than one.

In using your I in this integrative way, you will learn to let your inner wisdom lead the way—mostly because you’ll forget to let your inner wisdom lead the way. When you forget, you’ll see the consequences, and make a new, better choice.

As you do this, you will face down common shared fears: defeat, disappointment, anxiety, and worry. When you face yours, you are able to help others face theirs.

The magic of What would I do? is wider and deeper than it first appears. It starts with the smallest choices and grows to include every choice you make. Is what you would do right now … unite or divide?

If it is unite, you expand the world.
If it is divide, you contract the world.

The choice, for each one of us, is up to that I. The day-in and day-out I that we use to navigate everything. That same quotidian I holds the two gifts of Divinity that are freely given to each one of us. I is the container for the Life Force—Gift #1. I is the actor for Free Will—Gift #2.

As hard as it may be to hear, Free Will is what’s gotten us to where we are today. Yours, mine, and the peeps’ next door. Free Will is the mechanism that will get us out of this mess, too.

What you act upon with your I is what creates your story.

Is the story you want to tell one of unity or one of division?

It’s that hard, and it’s that simple. And it’s the only thing, repeatedly practiced, that I know of that comes with an ultimate guarantee of healing for all species and for our planet.

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Many years ago, I happened to hear a snippet of verse by poet Edwin Markham. I only recently learnt that it has a title: “Outwitted.” I’ve used it in speeches and sermons and sessions for well over forty years.

He drew a circle that shut me out,
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,
But love and I had the wit to win,
We drew a circle that took him in.

These simple lines prompted a new idea in me about divide, and it’s made me wonder.

What if, when patriarchy was established, and given the cosmic go-ahead, the entire mandate was “Divide?” Namely, learn about the world by looking into things on more and more microscopic levels. Or, learn as much as you can from dividing.

Further to that, what if we’ve done it? What if the experiment is a success? What if what’s happening on our planet now is that we’ve taken division as far as it can go? And what if that was the right thing to do, and not the wrong one?

Wouldn’t it further follow then that, if we have taken division to its greatest capacity, we ought now to begin the reverse process? Namely, that of uniting? And what if we’re right on time, right where we are?

What if our mandate has changed? From divide to unite. And what if it really is as simple as Mr. Markham suggests—merely drawing bigger circles?

Think on these things.