Word of the Year

Merriam-Webster has chosen its Word of the Year.” The famous American dictionary publisher announced that the word for 2024 is “polarization.” The word is defined as “division into two sharply distinct opposites; especially, a state in which the opinions, beliefs, or interests of a group or society no longer range along a continuum but become concentrated at opposing extremes.”   Sounds about right ... and left.  

I resonate more with the word that came in second place, which is the word “totality.” It was used this year in regard to eclipses, meaning: “the phase of an eclipse during which it is total.” But its first two meanings are: “an aggregate amount: sum, whole; the quality or state of being total: wholeness.” That sounds righter to me. Or is that “more right”? I better consult the dictionary.  

American society – and indeed the world - is polarized into right and left, threatening the future of our nation and our world. I have never liked the labels right and left. I have usually called myself moderate. But “moderate” is a rapidly disappearing no-man’s-land between two opposing forces. 

So I no longer call myself a moderate. I am off the spectrum. Most people identify with a side, but I find my identity in the totality. Merriam-Webster illustrated their word of the year with the image of red and blue mobs of people opposing each other. I see the world in terms of the Yin-Yang symbol, where the two sides are parts of a larger whole.  Perhaps a blue and red yin-yang symbol would be most appropriate for our time.  

In any case, I see the world as more than a battle between opposing forces. I see polar opposites as part of a divine harmony, like the two magnetic poles of our planet. It is more like a dance than a battle. Of course, when you are in the midst of the swirl of red and blue, it can feel like a hurricane or a tornado.  

The political storms of our national climate are similar to the meteorological storms of our planet. They can do more damage than any hurricane or tornado. Wars – whether cultural, religious, political or military - are human manifestations of the same duality that makes up this universe.  Right and wrong, good and evil, just and unjust are like the magnetic forces of positive and negative.  

One can view these as diametrically opposed forces, as most people do, or we can view them as complementary, as partners in the ecosystem of the universe. That does not lessen their danger. Natural forces can destroy life on this planet, like the periodic extinctions that have destroyed most life on our planet. Political and military conflicts have the potential to do the same sort of damage with nuclear weapons or climate change. 

Therefore “polarization” is a serious threat when viewed from the human level. Yet from a cosmic and divine perspective, this is just the way it is. It is Reality. We play our parts in this earthly drama as individuals and a species, but in the end (and now!) we are expressions of the “totality.” Merriam-Webster did not ask my opinion, but I vote for the runner-up for the Word of the Year.  

Well, So That is That

These past few weeks I have been sharing my thoughts on W. H. Auden’s For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio. Now that Christmas Day is past, I thought I would share a final excerpt from the ending of the poem. If there is any part of his work that people have heard before, it is likely this section. If you are not familiar with it, consider this a belated Christmas gift. It speaks for itself, so I will quote it without comment.   

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree, 
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes — 
Some have got broken — and carrying them up to the attic. 
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt, 
And the children got ready for school. There are enough 
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week — 
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot, 
Stayed up so late, attempted — quite unsuccessfully — 
To love all of our relatives, and in general 
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again 
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed 
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable 
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away, 
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant, 
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long. 
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory, 
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware 
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought 
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now 
Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are, 
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city 
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid’s geometry 
And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience, 
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it. 
It seems to have shrunk during the holidays. The streets 
Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten 
The office was as depressing as this. To those who have seen 
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously, 
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.