I stepped over a few boards and navigated around the maze of construction materials. There was a light on in the back half of the warehouse where we found a few chairs to sit on. It was a freezing cold evening in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I had come to this odd place to meet my wife's friend, a respected scholar and writer in the LDS community. We had chosen this location because we could meet with relatively low risk without putting masks on, but the space ultimately represents what I learned in conversation there.
We meandered through lots of fascinating topics as we chatted, when eventually she taught me a new word: merism. She was referring to a verse in the Book of Mormon that contained this "merism":
"...he inviteth them all...black and white, bond and free, male and female;"
A merism is a way to emphasize a reference to "everything," by highlighting two extremes within that "everything." For example, in college, I would work day and night on print-making projects. This implies that I was doing those kinds of projects all the time—even though in this case, it's hyperbole, since I certainly did not work on anything continuously.
To me, this little rhetorical device has the potential to open up spaces where we might not have seen space before. Even though a merism is usually about identifying binaries, I've found more gradients as I've paused and looked at them more closely. So, in honor of Pride month, let's take a look at the stuff in the "in-between."
Many merisms
Back to the scripture reference mentioned above, we see three sets of these merisms:
- black and white
- bond and free
- male and female
The first set is referring to race as a concept of skin color. Bad theology and racism of the Church and/or contributors to the text aside, the text itself is attempting to present the idea that your race (a.k.a. your skin color) has no effect on God's invitation to come to Him. This merism presents us with our first opportunity to break out of binary thinking.
I don't think they are supposed to do this, but what if we took a moment each time we recognize a merism and considered what is in between the two highlighted things? Who might be forgotten in our shortcut of saying "black and white"? If it's hard to identify someone or something else in between the two endpoints, that's our cue to look for more diverse voices, concepts, and stories. (If you want a great book on race in the U.S., you might consider So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo)
Bond and free can also be a merism, because at least from my view, there is a gradient of experiences between bondage and freedom. Some people are in bondage even while technically being free, such as those whom the United States (and many other places) intentionally and systematically oppress. There are all kinds of bondage: from addiction to debt to disability. There are all kinds of freedoms: from having rights to having privilege or wealth or time.
Once again, our merism highlights extremes, but provides us the chance to fill in the blanks, practice empathy, and consider alternate view points. An excellent resource to explore bondage and freedom is The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (in the context of the U.S., though it may have implications in other places).
And finally, we have our gender merism: male and female. Are there only two genders—or two sexes? The context here might say no—not because the author's intent was to imply a spectrum, it almost certainly wasn't possible for the author to conceive of that, given the historical context. Rather, it's an opportunity to consider making space since we now know so much more about humanity's diverse experience with gender and the varying presentation of biological sex.
My point here is that if we're going to treat the first two sets as gradients, we can do the same for the last set since the precedent is already there. Maybe it's a way to start opening up doors that used to be slammed shut by ignorance and fear.
If you want to explore the gender merism in a more Christian context, I highly recommend the book Transforming by Austen Hartke. He does an excellent job of examining theological perspectives, biblical examples, and contemporary stories.
In sickness and in health
My own body has taught me about this merism. Multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown me that the lines between "sick" and "healthy" can be quite blurry. MS impacts me every day, even when I'm feeling great, because it takes the reasonable predictability out of my grasp. Some days, when I feel really good, I push myself too hard and I end up crashing in the afternoon. Other times I know the whole day is just bad. And that's nowhere near the extreme end.
When I had my first (and so far, only) MS attack, I was so overwhelmed with grief. My body had lost everything I loved: coordination, energy, and clear thinking. It completely changed my scale of experience with health and sickness. Suddenly I knew things can get much, much worse—and I was never going to be quite as well as I had been before.
In my immaturity prior to my diagnosis, I often found myself being quite judgmental of people around me. I often classified people as lazy or weak if they had a difficult time waking up in the morning, or if they tired out more quickly than I did, or if they complained for any reason about a task.
My MS attack sharply humbled me and opened my eyes to the massively diverse experiences possible in the context of health and stamina. This was a merism with a vast middle range that I could no longer escape.
Life experience is what helps us to break out of the constricting binaries that we're surrounded with. Even recognizing that your experience and your reality is different than everyone else's is a helpful practice to stay curious and to see past assumptions or stereotypes.
CYBORG
We use merisms to emphasize inclusivity, but it's up to us to draw out what's in between. It can be a trap for us to stay in a binary mindset, where things are easily classified as "black" or "white." It's on us to decide to use this shortcut as a reminder instead of a reinforcement.
I think this is particularly potent as we continue to be drawn to our technological echo-chambers. Social media and other AI or algorithmically supported content feeds can and do make us feel connected and validated, since we're served pieces that we already agree with. That's why I think we have to find our own "technology" to remind us that there is a lot more nuance out there than what we see all day.
And it's something we should celebrate.
I've found it is easier to access my own humanity when I open up to more diverse ideas and listen to the experiences of others. It may not be practical to name everything in a gradient, but it's worth focusing on the under-represented and elevating their voices and experiences wherever you can.
To me, merisms are about making larger spaces between two extremes. Life is complex, humans are complex, and there's more than enough room for everyone.