I adhere to an uncommon standard. Most people do whatever they like, whenever they like, for whatever reason they imagine. Just because a behavior is common does not make it civil or the right behavior.
My code of morality and ethics could be described as "a sad devotion to the ethics of a bygone era". Everything I do and believe has its foundation in love, real love, not that which we think we see when students snog outside the classroom. It is love, such as has never been in a play. I believe it is the only way worth living.
Some people think we should quit on things they don't think we can do. I remind them that it was once thought impossible to circumnavigate the globe, break the sound barrier, harness the atom, fold a fitted sheet, or get to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen in basketball if you were my alma mater. All of those things are possible today. Maybe we're not going to completely stop drug use, sexual promiscuity, price gauging, war in the middle east, etc. They are right if we don't try.
I think the reason why most of those efforts fail is because our efforts are focused on behavior rather than nature. The world tries to work from the outside in, changing what we do as a means to change what we are. God works from the inside out, changing the nature of a person, because although it is no guarantee that doing begets being, it is true that being begets doing. As I wrote Monday, there are things people do because of who they are. What we are matters most.
You cannot teach correct principles with logic. Logical arguments can be countered by other attempts at logic. Where you must begin is with principles. There are people in positions of political power trying to establish utopia on earth who ignore both the semblance and substance of heaven. All truly altruistic, charitable, and uplifting behavior starts with adherance to and belief in the principle that men grow together when they love their neighbors. Until you love your neighbor, you cannot help him, you are unlikely to help him, and you will not change him. Until you know your neighbor, you cannot love him. For how knoweth the man a master he has not served and who is a stranger to him?
These people do not know you. They do not care to. They want you to quit. You are a thorn in their side. They think you are barbarians, an impediment to civilization, when they completely ignore the only foundation upon which true civilized behavior can be built- all Four Loves. Instead, they are too cool to know you. They don't like you, and you know it, so you resist their advances and offerings.
When people ask me why I fight battles they think I cannot possibly win, I remind them that the "lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for". I know the law says "love thy neighbor", and I will honor that great trust. That is my motivation. Try me.
2 comments:
LOVE the thought 'what we are matters most.' What we do is important, to a certain extent, to be sure - -but what we are is all that matters in the end.
LOVE it!!
I left out something that your comment reminded me to include. Monday night at my parents' house, I caught a fragment from Judge Judy. She tells the gentleman that he's a good looking guy, but that good looks are not enough. You have to be a good person. I will take it further that good works are not enough. If that was the case, you would be able to EARN your way into heaven. People play parts, but God is not fooled. He knows who we really are, and He knows why we do what we do.
What's your motivation? It's a question I often ask myself.
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