There is a righteous meeting place where two opposing “right” sides can meet. It would be silly to say that day is right, and night is wrong. Both are good and serve their purposes: Total opposites, yet coming together and creating one full day of work and rest, serving all creation. We need nighttime when we rest and we need daytime when we work. It’s alright to prefer one over the other, but neither one is “right” over the other.

Streams of day and night trickle down through all of creation like the routes of salt and fresh water. They run through nature and science, race, politics, wisdoms, art, and very often religion. They then make their way into our hearts, minds, and conversations. You and I may differ, yet God made us both in his image, and we share this likeness. He made us diverse as well: colors, sizes, and sex. Who is right, and who is wrong there?

As a parent of four, I know that the hardest game ever is a game with one toy that must be shared. Everyone fights and cries about what is “fair,” or “unfair;” what is “right” and “wrong.” All the father desires is for his children to share this one toy and play the game. The duty of demonstrating this sharing usually falls on the oldest or most mature son or daughter. Then once the game is played, the father is happy, and the kids grasp a concept they didn’t own previously. The game must first be played, and the toy must be shared. If the “toy” is “eternal life,” or just the right to “be right;” it’s the eldest or the most mature who are called to demonstrate sharing and playing the game.

The judgment that God made through Solomon’s wisdom, He is still making. When two women came to the king with one baby, both claiming motherhood, Solomon ordered to cut the baby in two and have them share it. He knew the true mother of the child would not allow his death, and the infant would be spared. When we try to “own” the whole truth claiming to be the “rightful” and sole owners of something like “correct doctrine,” God will order the “baby” to be cut in half. The mature will not allow it to be cut, and would rather give it over to the opponent. God then turns around and gives it to the mature one who would rather share or even give up the right to be right in order for truth to be preserved.

-Jacob