Blog #163--Separating Wheat from the Chaff

Wheat has been an essential part of the human diet for many centuries. It is used to make flour, bread, cereal, pasta, baked goods, and pizza. Cooks have found a number of additional uses as well. When harvesting wheat, one must separate the wheat grains from the chaff, the dry, scaly covering that has minimal value. This separating process has been used to describe a number of analogous situations as well.

In general, the phrase “separating the wheat from the chaff” describes separating what is high quality from low quality. Books that have long-term intrinsic value are wheat compared with those having less usefulness. Employers interview multiple prospective employees to find the best quality individuals for their purposes. The Christian Bible has a reference to the process of separating the chaff from the wheat, and many assume it is symbolic for an almighty God choosing the righteous from heathens.

However, “the devil is in the details,” as they say. It can be difficult to determine a precise definition for who is favored by God and who isn’t. We each have own interpretation, and most of us assume we are among the righteous, or at least hope we are. We have a variety of definitions for those God might not favor. It is easy to see which part of the wheat plant is the chaff and which is edible grains. But human judgments are far more complex than that, muddying the concept beyond recognition.

For instance, the hostile and sometimes violent process of choosing presidential candidates for the 2016 elections has led to clashes between various factions. Most of these people consider themselves highly religious and therefore emblematic of the wheat grains. But if they are angry at those who support a different candidate than they prefer, then they are implying their opposition is the chaff.

Which group is the wheat? Is it the side that wins the nomination? That makes little sense to me because all sides have at times resorted to lies and dirty tricks to gain advantage. This is the way politics works these days, so few of the participants even consider the morality of their behaviors. But shouldn’t the “wheat” represent morally advanced souls who live by the Golden Rule and forego attacks on their fellow man? Regardless, there is little doubt some will be frustrated at losing and may have difficulty seeing the winners as righteous.

On a more global scale, the “war on terror” being waged by the United States and its allies all over the world is rationalized as an exercise in “American exceptionalism,” designed to free the world of “evil-doers.” Certainly, many of its citizens support this massive effort as a way to kill those who might at some future date harm them. However, if we are killing others, including civilians, in this perpetual battle for control of the planet, are we really any better than those we are seeking to destroy?

We definitely believe we are the wheat and deserve to be separated from the chaff, but eliminating all the terrorists without creating a multitude of new ones is an impossible task. While terrorists are causing Americans to live daily in fear, our military’s massive military campaign is causing immense fear in those who lack the firepower to fight back in a direct way. But whether one is killing directly or indirectly, both are killing.

Each side seeks revenge against the other; it is the same for all wars. How is one side better than the other? Aren’t they both the chaff? It is a matter of definition and semantics, but those who think for themselves have a right to question both sides in any highly destructive conflict.

The common denominator in all similar judgment calls is how egos consider themselves the wheat and their enemies the chaff. This tells me enemies have much in common with each other. If they are both similar, they are either both wheat or both chaff. How might a creator distinguish one from another? Is that even what a creator really does? Up to now, we have only been able to speculate on this subject, using our so-called holy books to serve as authorities. But they were written, edited and translated by those just like us who were probably also confused.

The conclusion I’ve reached is that our egos are all chaff, regardless of our country of origin, our religions or our cultural biases. If we let go of our ego’s fear and judgmental ranting, otherwise known as the chaff, we can begin to hear another voice. This voice is one with our creator and is our true self. It is the wheat. If we can embrace it, we will know without doubt we live forever, and ego concepts like fear and judgment will be a thing of the past. Then we can find the wheat in all others, our friends and enemies alike.

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