Many
times in our lives we, or others we know, cry out that “life’s not fair” or
that things are “not right.” In my
younger years I would not have found these phrases encouraging, but now I smile
when I hear these words.
When
I smile, it’s not to laugh at our make fun of others, though I have been
accused and actually felt guilty for it from time to time. I know that my “encouragement” comes at someone
else’s peril or pain. So, my attempt in
the following paragraphs is to share why I take such delight in the phrase a
tired or beaten heart calls out.
Have
you or someone you know ever said something like “it may be wrong for you but
it’s not wrong for me (others).”? Today,
as in many cultures, right and wrong is often defined by the people who are
living a way they believe to be right. And
that is not even in the farthest moral lines most agree on.
There
was a group of men about 2,000 years ago, teachers and practicing lawyers of
their time, who found fault in a young man who was making life difficult for
them. Here is a quote from their
interaction with this “prophet” of their day… “Why do your disciples (followers, students)
not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”
This question was a valid question
for these men to be asking, after all, they were to be guardians of the truth
of their culture and its religious heritage.
So why was
this question wrong? Listen as the young
“prophet” answers their question, as he often did, with another question… “Well did
Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me
with their lips, but their heart is far from
me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold
to the tradition of men.” And he said
to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the
commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’;
and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his
mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to
God)— then you no longer permit him to do anything for his
father or mother, thus making void the
word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things
you do.” For you and I the names Isaiah and Moses may
or may not bring to mind anything, but for these men, it was the core of their
heritage and as such meant a great deal.
So I return
to a question posed before and to be repeated, “why is _________ right?” or
“why is ________ wrong?” As a matter of
fact, the core behind this question is actually, if right and wrong are
different for different people, then there is a problem. Unless…
You ask the question behind the question. Here it is, don’t pass over it lightly and
read it again should you need to…
Where in the
world did the idea that anything is right or wrong come from?
You see,
that is the deeper, maybe even the deepest inquiry needed.
Contemplate
these thoughts for a moment…
~Why does a
thief think that when someone else steals from him that it is wrong?
~What makes
a person who is immoral, cry foul when someone else does something immoral?
~Is there
anything to the reasoning of a drug dealer or gang, who practice what society
clearly outlaws, has laws and turf?
~Can you
explain the joy or thankfulness you feel when someone does something good for
you, where does that originate?
Behind these
thoughts is the clutching reality that all of us, people on both sides of the
spectrum of defined morals, have a “code” of ethics, even if they don’t match
our neighbors or the surrounding society.
So, then, why do these exist?
Where do they come from? If
people “know” there is a right and wrong, where did “knowing” originate or flow
from?
May I
suggest a source? Actually I will borrow
a term from one of my favorite writers.
It is because we are born with a “natural law.” There is a belief inside of us that speaks
up when we or a person we love is hurt by someone else.
Which brings
me to the shin bone…. Connected to the moral code…. Connected to the ??????
Here’s the
deal, if I was to kick you in the shin bone, regardless of the force, would it
be wrong?
If you say
no, then hold on, I’m going to test your belief system. If you say yes, then please explain to me
where you got your definition of wrong.
You may just say “because it hurts.”
And yet, if I was a surgeon, you would endure the hurt at my hands
without claiming it wrong? So you are on
shaky ground with this reasoning. “If
you say I was told it was wrong” I would ask that you tell me who informed you
and where did they get their standard.
If you said that “it’s not a nice thing to do”, again, how do you know
that?
The very fact
that you even have any clue of right and wrong comes from somewhere. The other amazing thing is that, just like
the “honor among thieves” I eluded to earlier, every culture, civilized or not,
has a set of standards that have a consequence.
Now, I wish
to close with a thought from a man who was called the wisest of his day, he is
the person that inspired Pete Seger to write the song based on his words. Later the pop group “The Byrds” took this
cute little tune to #1 on the charts.
The writing begins, “to everything there is a season…” a few paragraphs later he wrote, “God has set
eternity in their hearts.”
Could these
words be correct? If not, then where did
your inner sense of right and wrong come from?
I’ll take
the obvious if you don’t mind, it has a lot of “heart” in it. You can complicate it if you want, but it seems pretty straightforward...
Till next
time…
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