Circles

We all draw circles,
Or most of us do. 
It starts when we're young.
You're my friend.
You're not.
You're in this circle I have drawn.
You're not in this circle.
Later the circles become more distinctive.
You're like me. 
You're in my circle.
You're not like me,
So you're not. 

Sometimes I'll pretend my circle is wide enough to include you,
But it's only a ruse. 
My circle will never include you.

Some people try to widen their circles
To include as many people as possible,
Or resort to overlapping circles
Like a page full of Spiro-O-Graph swirls.

Some people get to share space
In the Venn-like 
Areas where the circles overlap. 
Others stay locked 
In the cut-off circle sections that never overlap,
Venn-different. 


Some people never really extend the circle 
Beyond themselves. 
They draw their circle around their own two feet. 
Because they they know 
That they, themselves, 
Are the only ones that matter.
Amazingly, these people sometimes draw, 
Not only tiny circles,
But a lot of people to themselves, 
Despite their tiny,
Exclusive circle - 
Or maybe because of it? 

Is the circle of one seductive - 
So elite it becomes an impossible dream?
People are drawn to the circle of one 
Like planets and stars and bending rays of light 
To the vortex. 
Yet no matter how much attention,
Idolization
Gets sucked into the circle of one, 
It is never enough. 
The person who stands in it
Is always alone.

Groups draw circles.
My country.
My party.
My religion.
My denomination.
My church. 
My faction within my church. 
My philosophy.
My skin color.
My taste in
Food
Movies
Books
Sports teams
Beer
Soda

The internet filters our experience, 
Makes our circles into bubbles - 
Virtual, yet unpoppable.

But there have been those people
Throughout history
Who try not to draw more circles,
But to erase them.

There once was a man
Who came along and said,
"All your circles do that matter.
Stop drawing them. 
Stop living in them.
Follow me away from the circles
And be free.

"The only people who will be thrown out
Of all circles
Are those who keep drawing them."

The people who liked circles 
Killed him.

Even sadder,
The people who followed him
Went back to drawing circles,
Sometimes very small ones. 

But we are called,
All of us,
To stop drawing circles.
To erase them. 

Or maybe someday we'll draw a circle
Wide enough to contain everyone - 
Even the people who insist on circles. 

The Other Side

I see them on TV
Or online
And they make me want to shake them.
Shake them and say,

"Snap out of it!
How can you possibly think
Your point of view makes sense? 
How can you possibly think that way? 
How can you see people the way you do?
Don't you understand who our enemies are?
How can you see this country the way you do? 
How can you see the issues the way you do? 
Do you even understand what this country is about? 
Do you even understand its founding principles? 

"Does your vision for the future
Even make sense?
You are against everything good and virtuous. 
Your values are completely upside-down
And in favor of everything that is wrong and amoral.

"And then I see you in groups
On TV
Or interacting with each other online.
And I realize what the problem is.
You all live in a bubble, 
Talking among yourselves,
Making the rest of us out to be the enemy,
Agreeing with yourselves,
Never thinking for yourselves.
You groupthink and agree 
With each other and 
And take great pleasure in bashing the other side.
My side. 

"You are so sure you are right. 
You are so self righteous!
You are unthinking!
You are ungrateful!
You don't deserve this country.
We should just run you out of it
Because only people like us,
Like me, 
Deserve to live here! 
We aren't like you! 
We know what this country is about!
We...

We...

Oh. 
I'm exactly the same way. 

Maybe we're not as divided as I thought.