There are always two sides

By Rennie Phillips

There was a post on Facebook recently that really stood out to me. They always have a picture of some cowboy scene and a quote or some words of wisdom. This one was special. "You may know my name, But not my story, You may have heard what I've done or haven't done, or what I've been through... and no matter how thin you slice it, there is always two sides."

I have a lot of good friends who are fishermen. Some of them are good fishermen or fisherwomen (when I write fishermen I include both men and women). Some of my friends won't keep smaller fish but wait till they get one of those wall hangers and then they'll keep it. I tend to keep more if I'm hungry for fish. If I go to catch a mess of fish and I'm hungry for a mess of fish if they'll bite the hook and I can fillet them most likely I'll keep them. One of my friends says if they have two eyes and two sides they are big enough to keep. Don't know about that but there are two sides to the fish but also two sides as to keep or release.

But there are two sides to most everything. When I was pastoring and I had a couple come in for counseling there were always two sides to everything. Both of the two sides thought they were right and the other was wrong. And the amazing thing was these two sides could be miles apart or as close as kissing cousins. But there is always two sides.

Marge and I were at a farmer's market this summer and we had a customer come by wanting tomatoes. She asked the price and I told her what we were selling ours for. She then replied that the guy down a ways from us was selling his tomatoes for about half the price we were. I told her if I was her I'd buy from him then. She immediately replied that his weren't as good tasting as ours. She had tried the tomatoes from down the line but there wasn't any taste. Two different tomatoes which looked similar yet were totally different. Two sides: one can buy for taste or just buy the cheapest.

A week ago or so I spent a couple days helping a friend of mine start the process of putting up a 30x66 high tunnel. There are about 40 posts that are driven in the ground on which the ends and top are attached to. Some don't use a bit of concrete to anchor these posts in the ground while some cement in several of the posts. On our two high tunnels that we built out where we live we cemented in all the posts. It seemed the right way to do it for us. Both will work. Each of us has a little different way of doing the same task.

A good friend of mine roasts his own coffee just like I do. But Mark likes to roast his coffee really dark or Full City +. I don't like dark roast so I roast mine a little beyond City roast to about City + roast. When I roast Ethiopian I may just get through City roast or a light brown roast. But when I roast green coffee beans from Costa Rica I may go to City + or almost to Full City which is a darker brown color. Just two sides about how to roast coffee.

There is a fad about what type of meat one prefers and likes. Some prefer grass fed beef while some prefer corn fattened beef. Down through the years we have ate both. When I was growing up Dad always fattened his butcher critters on grain of some kind with the main grain being rolled corn. My wife and I fatten our butcher cattle on cracked corn, but we have also eaten grass-fed beef. We prefer grain fattened beef by far. For us it's tastier and more tender, but some would argue and prefer the grass-fattened beef. Two different sides of the same issue.

When we were growing up most all of us had a switch or fly swatter taken to the seat of our pants for one reason or another. Many of us had our teeth brushed with bar soap like Ivory for saying something wrong or cussing. Some nowadays think physical punishment is wrong, that correction should be in other ways. Two different sides of the same issue. I lean on the side where one uses the switch.

I prefer unsweet tea most of the time. Now and then I add some sweetener to it. Our Granddaughter likes sweet tea. I grew up in Nebraska where very seldom does one drink sweet tea, but our Granddaughter is growing up in the South where most people seem to drink sweet tea. There is no right and wrong just two sides of the same issue.

The sides of any issue aren't necessarily wrong or right and I would imagine at times both sides are wrong. The hardest part for many of us is realizing that there are two sides and there may be truth on both sides. When I look at something from my side I'm seeing it through eyes that have been molded and shaped by events and experiences I've gone through. But the same is true for all of us. We view life and events through our own experiences and honestly it's hard not too. When we throw in regional differences it further muddies up the water.

I grew up in rural Nebraska around mostly Danish or Norwegian or German people. When we moved to Oklahoma and then Kentucky and then Missouri it was almost culture shock. Never heard of grits or biscuits and gravy. I was called honey more times by waitresses than by my wife. Is this wrong? Nope. Just two sides of the same coin.

Might not be a bad idea to slow down, take a step back, glance around the corner and check out the other side. There might be something amazing on the other side.

Have a good one.