We live in interesting times; it has been quipped so often the phrase seems old-fashioned. But this current time does seem more than a little interesting. It is not unusual to hear old-timers claim they have never seen anything like this. I don’t think it is hyperbole. It seems true to me. But I am not an old-timer!
It is a time that I think about the virtue of justice. I have written quite a bit about the virtues, so I know them pretty well. Often my co-author and I claim that justice is typically the most difficult of the seven virtues we give focus. Justice sometimes is even difficult to determine. Is justice a matter of equality? So many times, I tried to treat my two girls equally. And we talk about equal opportunity and equal rights. So there is always reason seriously to consider equality as our measure of justice.
But we can also determine justice based on the idea of fairness. Again, there were times when I tried to be fair to my two girls. They did not necessarily get the same thing, but I wanted to be fair. It is probably obvious that determining what is fair is a little trickier. And there is the rub. Someone or some group gets to decide what is fair. There are times this may come at the expense of someone else who does not think it is fair. Consider the matter of pay or salaries. They are usually all over the place. I know at my university, the president gets paid more than I do. And I am older! But someone decided that was the fair way to do it. I can accept it or leave.
In these interesting times, I know I am relatively well-off compared to many others. So we are not equal. The question is whether it is fair? Many have been laid off and others still have their jobs, their benefits and all that come with that. Is this fair? If businesses don’t furlough people, the business will go out of business. Is that fair? It is simple to gather how difficult this one is.
And then there is the question of who gets sick. There are times when someone seems to have done everything right and they still get sick. Others live in what looks like a dangerously exposed manner and they gleefully go on with no illness at all. Who do we rail against? God? I am sure a virus does not float along and pick out particular people. Is it a matter of luck or is there indeed something diabolical at work in our world? All I know is some folks get sick.
Some folks get so sick, they die. Again, this seems to be hitting the aged population in disproportionate numbers. Is this fair? Most of us would choose it to be that way rather than unfairly attacking kids. That’s a no-brainer! Some of us have better health care options. Again, that is not a matter of equality. Some people would claim they have taken care of themselves all their lives and they get sick. And some long-time smoker blissfully puffs away healthy as if there is no issue at all. That one seems like a really raw deal. Where is the culprit who designed it that way?
Thinking about all this, I read a little essay about three folks who became sick---a couple was very sick---and are recovering. My favorite story was about an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister, Barbara Stanbridge. This seventy-nine-year-old Detroit resident became sick after a trip to Florida. She was hospitalized and quips, “One night, I thought I was going to die…” She fascinates me as a person when I learned that “She entered the convent at a young age, left the community, married, had a daughter and returned to religious life after 35 years.” I would love to talk with her and hear her story.
All this might be interesting to you, as it was for me. But it became pertinent to my life when Stanbridge reflected on what she had learned through the process. Her words were quite simple. It actually came as two things in one sentence. “’Be willing to slow down,’ she suggested. ‘And live in gratitude.’" Let’s briefly look at each one. Be willing to slow down does not seem to be needed in a time when so much of life has slowed down for many of us. Slow down has to do with how we use our time as much as whether we are busy. I recognize that I am surrounded by technology and most of it is designed to tempt me to distractions that are tantalizing, but not substantial. When I finish with surfing the net, I am left with nothing---literally nothing.
Slow down and, I might add, center down. Quakers talk about centering down. Centering down puts us in touch with the very Source of life---many of us call this God. Our goal is to live a centered life. This is a life in touch with and guided by the Spirit. And if we can do this, then there is every reason to be grateful. Gratitude is a wonderful thing to be “in,” as Sister Stanbridge attests.
I have done a great deal of research on gratitude. There are many reasons to learn to be grateful and to live gratefully. You usually are more aware, more reflective, more connected to relationships, peaceful and one could go on. Gratitude is a choice and is a response. It is related to the idea of grace.
Thanks to the mother-nun for reminding me: slow down, be grateful.
It is a time that I think about the virtue of justice. I have written quite a bit about the virtues, so I know them pretty well. Often my co-author and I claim that justice is typically the most difficult of the seven virtues we give focus. Justice sometimes is even difficult to determine. Is justice a matter of equality? So many times, I tried to treat my two girls equally. And we talk about equal opportunity and equal rights. So there is always reason seriously to consider equality as our measure of justice.
But we can also determine justice based on the idea of fairness. Again, there were times when I tried to be fair to my two girls. They did not necessarily get the same thing, but I wanted to be fair. It is probably obvious that determining what is fair is a little trickier. And there is the rub. Someone or some group gets to decide what is fair. There are times this may come at the expense of someone else who does not think it is fair. Consider the matter of pay or salaries. They are usually all over the place. I know at my university, the president gets paid more than I do. And I am older! But someone decided that was the fair way to do it. I can accept it or leave.
In these interesting times, I know I am relatively well-off compared to many others. So we are not equal. The question is whether it is fair? Many have been laid off and others still have their jobs, their benefits and all that come with that. Is this fair? If businesses don’t furlough people, the business will go out of business. Is that fair? It is simple to gather how difficult this one is.
And then there is the question of who gets sick. There are times when someone seems to have done everything right and they still get sick. Others live in what looks like a dangerously exposed manner and they gleefully go on with no illness at all. Who do we rail against? God? I am sure a virus does not float along and pick out particular people. Is it a matter of luck or is there indeed something diabolical at work in our world? All I know is some folks get sick.
Some folks get so sick, they die. Again, this seems to be hitting the aged population in disproportionate numbers. Is this fair? Most of us would choose it to be that way rather than unfairly attacking kids. That’s a no-brainer! Some of us have better health care options. Again, that is not a matter of equality. Some people would claim they have taken care of themselves all their lives and they get sick. And some long-time smoker blissfully puffs away healthy as if there is no issue at all. That one seems like a really raw deal. Where is the culprit who designed it that way?
Thinking about all this, I read a little essay about three folks who became sick---a couple was very sick---and are recovering. My favorite story was about an Immaculate Heart of Mary sister, Barbara Stanbridge. This seventy-nine-year-old Detroit resident became sick after a trip to Florida. She was hospitalized and quips, “One night, I thought I was going to die…” She fascinates me as a person when I learned that “She entered the convent at a young age, left the community, married, had a daughter and returned to religious life after 35 years.” I would love to talk with her and hear her story.
All this might be interesting to you, as it was for me. But it became pertinent to my life when Stanbridge reflected on what she had learned through the process. Her words were quite simple. It actually came as two things in one sentence. “’Be willing to slow down,’ she suggested. ‘And live in gratitude.’" Let’s briefly look at each one. Be willing to slow down does not seem to be needed in a time when so much of life has slowed down for many of us. Slow down has to do with how we use our time as much as whether we are busy. I recognize that I am surrounded by technology and most of it is designed to tempt me to distractions that are tantalizing, but not substantial. When I finish with surfing the net, I am left with nothing---literally nothing.
Slow down and, I might add, center down. Quakers talk about centering down. Centering down puts us in touch with the very Source of life---many of us call this God. Our goal is to live a centered life. This is a life in touch with and guided by the Spirit. And if we can do this, then there is every reason to be grateful. Gratitude is a wonderful thing to be “in,” as Sister Stanbridge attests.
I have done a great deal of research on gratitude. There are many reasons to learn to be grateful and to live gratefully. You usually are more aware, more reflective, more connected to relationships, peaceful and one could go on. Gratitude is a choice and is a response. It is related to the idea of grace.
Thanks to the mother-nun for reminding me: slow down, be grateful.
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