I am the net.

Every day I watch the Political Ping Pong balls from the only place on the table that is truly neutral, and I watch it go left, then right, then left, then right. You might know the image, because I'm not alone. No matter what side you are on, who you are pulling for, some part of everyone's attention is always here. On the center. On the net.

I am the defining place. I define where a point is lost and where a point is made. I am at once the cause and the effect of the great duality: Mr. Left, and Mr. Right. From my perspective, they are equal. Equidistant from me, both wielding the same weapons, and both doing their utmost to hit that ball full of air and win win WIN!

The score usually goes something like: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6 etc... Eventually one side reaches 21 and is declared The Winner! And then they do something really strange.

They play again.

If that isn't weird enough for you...oftentimes the guy that lost the first time is declared the winner the next time! I have to ask "Well, who is it? Who is the winner?! And if you can't tell me who, then what is the point of the game?" I believe I'm beginning to see that the point is not, in fact, to determine a winner. It's just a drama. They just want to play, and who wins any one game is really irrelevant.

As I realize this, I turn my gaze to the onlookers. They, like the two players, are all equal from my perspective. Both sides are fanatical about who they cheer for. And they all have very good reasons for why they think their hero should be THE hero. They state that their hero has the best shots, and when the other side vehemently disagrees with this, they fall into lengthy debate on exactly what defines a good shot. (I know the answer to that, of course, *I* define that, but that point is never considered). If they can't agree on what a good shot is, they'll focus on any number of things that will either build up their hero or tear down their villain, and from the point on the table I occupy, I literally can not tell who is who. They are exactly the same. I hate to say it, but they all seem a bit rabid to me.

It's boring after watching it for so long. I seem to be the only one to see that this is never going to resolve. That an endless number of games can be played. That even if Mr. Right wins 10 in a row, Mr. Left will keep coming back and vice versa. And, in fact, I have found that the more one side loses, the harder they fight. The louder they yell. The harder they cry "Foul" and the more aspersions they cast of their own. They foul and cry foul in the same instant, yet remain oddly diplomatic about it. I'm guessing that they don't want it to become a fist fight because then the onlookers would be upset that they don't get to see the results of their ping pong match. I mean come on. Part of playing the game is entertaining the crowd, right?

I wonder at my power to simultaneously attract and repel these two. Right and Left orbit me like a couple of planets, and no matter who wins this game, they are both ready to play the next one. The fans cheer them on if they ever look like they might stop. It's endless, the players tireless, the rapture of the crowds ceaseless, and after a few games, it's also pretty pointless, but hey. It's a dual universe. What ya gonna do?

Get in the game! Pick a side! Cheer! You'll win some and you'll lose some, but it's all in good fun, and it really doesn't matter that we're wasting a lot of time in this nonsensical dance, right? Just because there are some tangible legitimate facts bearing down on your race like a freight train that will utterly wipe it from existence like you brush away a thought is no reason to quit the game. If you happen to hear about the sun becoming a Red Giant some day and eating this planet like you'd pop a pez, try to ignore it and remind yourself that that is WAY off in the distance of time and has nothing to do with you. You need to concentrate on the following.

Remember that your guy hits the best shots, always.
And plays the most fair.
And cares the most about what you care about.
And is all that is good and kind and loving while the opponent is all that is bad and nasty and unworthy.

Hey! If you become a REALLY good onlooker, they might even let you play a few games.

If you do, you need to remember a few things.

You have all the best shots.
You play the most fair.
You care most about what you care about, and
You are all that is good and kind while the opponent is all that is bad and nasty and unworthy.

There are also a few things you need to forget.

Forget that you can't play for the money. Meaning, you can't ever completely win because who the winner is is a quantum state. It is forever swinging back and forth, and determining the exact position of the winner at any given moment is completely impossible, (and even if you did it, you would find that it is completely irrelevant because in that one moment, "winner" has no context, and a winner with no context is like a tree falling in the forest with no one around for miles.)

If you ARE dead set on being THE winner, then you MUST forget that the harder you fight, the harder your opponent will fight back, and I mean in a 1:1 ratio, my friend. One might go so far as to suggest that you actually create your opponent just by being opposed.

Forget that even though it seems like we can be here playing for a long long time, that may not be the truth. And if you ask some of the species that have been here before you but have since departed, they might tell you that extinction has a way of sneaking up on folks. Particularly when they aren't paying attention.

Have fun, and remember - Be the Ball.

I am the net.