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Charlotte Mason in Modern English
Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio
pg 136
Lords Of The Heart: II. Justice
Chapter
12 - Justice, Universal
It's
Important to Know the Functions of Love and Justice
We've already said that two important entities rule in the House of the
Heart. Don't they clash sometimes? As a matter of fact, sometimes they
do. Love tends to be too permissive and sympathetic, and can do more
harm than good. But justice tends to be too harsh and inflexible, and
can drive away the very ones it wants to attract. So we need to
consider the roles that Love and Justice have, and examine the
different parts of them as carefully as we might study a Greek verb, or
a mathematical equation. We can live without analyzing verbs and
equations, but mankind can't live apart from Love and Justice. Their
existence is a fact, and we need to learn how to use them. They don't
have auto-pilot to keep them going in the right direction with or
without us. No, these Lords of the heart need the continual supervision
of the Prime Minister, who is ruled himself by the higher power of God.
Without this guidance, they cause all kinds of trouble in men's lives.
Everyone
Has Justice in His Heart
We've already talked about the ways Love works, and his different Lords
in Waiting. Now let's think
pg 137
about Justice and who surrounds him and carries out his orders. But
first, let's stop to realize what a treasure our sense of Justice is.
It's wonderful to know that there isn't one Mansoul in the world who
doesn't have Justice in his heart, no matter how lowly, ignored,
neglected or untaught. Even an unruly, angry mob will be outraged by
foul play. Everybody understands when something isn't fair. Different
cultures may have their own ways of defining what's fair, but fair-play
for oneself and others is the desire of every person's heart.
I May
Not Hurt Anybody by What I Say, or by What I Do
Justice demands that we be careful every day not to infringe on the
rights of the people we come in contact with. We need to 'do unto
others what we would want them to do unto us.' That means that we need
to be gentle with others, considerate with what they say, and
respectful about their opinions. We owe it to them. We need to be
honest and fair in everything we do. Everything we say should be
accurate, honest, easily understood and sincere. Our thoughts should be
unbiased, appreciative of others and reasonable. What we do should be
fair, honest and honorable.
I
Must Be Fair and Just With Everybody
Fairness to others, their property, their words, their thoughts and
what we do includes parents, teachers, government leaders, and everyone
rightfully in authority over me and my country. It's my duty to be just
with them. In the same way, I need to be fair about the words, thoughts
and actions of my brother, my sister, my friends, my neighbors, and
anyone else who is my equal. I must also be fair about the words,
thoughts and actions of servants and anyone else serving me or employed
by
pg 138
me or my family, both in my home or out. I need to show justice by
being fair to people whose ways of life and opinions are different than
mine. I need to be fair even to people who offend the laws of God and
man. I need to be fair in all these ways to people, to their
reputations, and to their things as far as it's in my power. That means
that 'I can't have ill-will or hostility in my heart. I must never let
my hands steal or my mouth speak evil, or lie or falsely criticize
others.' Also, 'I must never want what belongs to someone else or
resent them for having it. I must learn to work honestly to earn my own
living, and to do my duty in whatever kind of life God has seen fit to
put me in.'
It's
Within Our Ability to Be as Fair as We Should Be
By now it should be obvious that thinking fairly, speaking sincerely,
and acting with justice to all people all of the times takes some
serious reflective thinking. In fact, it's the study of a lifetime. It
might seem discouraging at how much is expected of us to so many people
if justice wasn't already a natural part of our hearts. Justice is
within us, just waiting to rule, and he has his own Lords in Waiting to
help him. Impartiality, genuineness, clarity, honor, and all the rest
are our servants to command. Our task is to find the right path in the
Circuit of Justice, and to recognize what we owe to others as
circumstances come before us. If we understand what's fair, we'll
always be ready to do the right thing with everyone. It's wonderful to
have that kind of knowledge. It's like having Coins of Justice at our
disposal. It's good to be able to walk around the streets of Mansoul
with those coins in our pockets, knowing that we have what we need to
pay our way wherever we go. Many poor souls
pg 139
wander around as paupers. They have the same Coins of Justice, but they
don't know it. Therefore, they don't use them. They might as well be
blind because they're constantly focused on their own rights and what
everyone else owes them. They're too preoccupied to notice other
people's rights and their own obligations to everyone else. In other
words, they're unable to be fair and just.
Our
Own Rights
You're probably wondering, 'What about me? What about my rights? Don't other people have
obligations to me?' Yes, we all have rights. They're the exact
same rights that other people have. We need to learn to think of
ourselves as just one of the rest, with the same rights that everyone
else has, and no more. Other people owe us the same duties that we owe
them and no more. When we realize that, we'll have a better perspective
of ourselves and see reality a little more clearly. There's a wonderful
lesson in the story of the man Jesus healed who was blind. At first, he
couldn't see anyone at all. Then his eyes were partially opened and he
could see men as if they were trees walking around. Finally, he was
blessed with complete vision and he was able to see people as they
really were.
pg 140
Chapter
13 - Justice To Others
Maybe you heard the recent tragic news about the young German officer
who
ended up in a duel on his wedding day. It hasn't been that long since
men in England thought it was okay to make a man pay for a minor
offense by killing him, or making him kill the person he had offended.
But now we understand that it's wrong to physically hurt anyone. Bosses
aren't allowed to beat their trainees, and mistresses aren't allowed to
beat their maids. In fact, as a nation, we try to make people treat
everyone else with respect. Children have benefited from this more
accurate idea of justice. At one time, it was acceptable for those in
authority over them to whip them, pinch them, squeeze them, or smack
them. People thought it was healthy to feed them only bread and water,
or lock them in a dark closet when they were naughty. But now children
are valued and loved; they're rarely beaten. That's because, once
people understand what's right, they're eager to do what's fair and
just. There are still countries where people don't see the harm in
hurting others. Recently there was a bandit in Italy who admitted to
killing twenty seven people -- not because he wanted their money or
pg 141
valuables, and not because they had hurt him. He killed them because,
years ago, a relative of theirs had killed his brother! The man
believed that vengeance was fair play. He had a concept of justice, but
it was a misguided concept. This incident shows how necessary it is for
us to be taught so that we can think clearly when we're faced with the
difficult question of what's fair and right. This is one of the areas
in which people make the most mistakes.
Thinking
Fairly Requires Knowledge and Consideration
Thinking fairly about the personal rights of other people requires that
we have enough knowledge and judgment. But Imagination can help us to
come to the right conclusions. It's good for a boy to recognize his
mother's love in the beautiful way she makes everything neat, or to
remember that the maid has enough to do with her regular job. Having
enough work to do brings satisfaction, but too much work ruins a
person's life. He will think about these things and therefore be
careful about minor details like wiping his feet when he comes in, or
keeping his toys and projects in the family room, or not leaving a
trail of fingerprints, clutter and damaged things wherever he goes. He
knows that this kind of carelessness ruins other people's comfort, and
makes more work for someone else. A young lady who thinks about others
won't rush a seamstress to get her new dress done by a specific date,
even if it means the seamstress's poor assistants will have to work
past midnight to get it done. She uses her Imagination. She can imagine
assistants with pale faces and circles under their tired eyes, or, on
the other hand, alert and cheerful assistants happily and carefully
sewing her new dress. This kind of care not
pg 142
to hurt others should guide us in everything we do. For example, it
should prevent us from always buying from the cheapest store, where,
most likely, underprivileged workers have been paid next to nothing in
'sweat shops' to make the merchandise so inexpensive. Familiarizing
ourselves with the real value of things will help us to live just and
fair lives.
Gentleness:
People Whose Feelings are Hurt Will Suffer Physically
Overwork, not enough food and outright abuse aren't the only ways to
physically hurt the people we deal with. If you hurt a person
emotionally,
they'll suffer physically. That's why we shouldn't push people in
crowds to get the best place. We shouldn't shove others around to get
the most out of things for ourselves, even when it's during a good
sermon. We should yield to others when we're walking on the street, and
make room for others in public seating areas such as buses. When we're
rough in these small matters, we might not hurt people enough to
require a trip to the emergency room, but we do create a situation of
mental anxiety and distress that can have even more long-lasting
effects. We all know how soothing the presence of a gentle person can
be. Such a person's tone of voice and movements show enough imagination
for him to recognize that the people around him have feelings, and
therefore he doesn't want to do anything to make them uncomfortable.
The demons who cause us to be unjust to other people are usually
Thoughtlessness, Selfishness and Cruelty.
Courtesy:
A Word Can Hurt as Much as a Punch
When we remember how easy it is to hurt people physically through their
minds, we begin to understand that a word can hurt as much as hitting a
person. Not using manners can hurt a person as much
pg 143
as depriving them of food. Once we realize this, we'll be polite when
others speak. We'll listen without contradicting and we'll try to
understand them. When other people express their opinions, no matter
how different they are than ours, we'll keep ourselves from privately
writing them off in our minds or mocking or arguing with them. Instead,
we'll listen politely when we don't agree. If we do that, we'll
discover that when it's our turn to state our own opinions and we do so
gently and modestly, the other person will be more likely to receive
them tolerably.
We
Aren't Free to Think Bad Things About Other People
We aren't allowed to run wild in the world! To go around like a bull in
a china shop, running into whatever crosses our path, might be
tempting, but it's no way to act. Nobody is born to be a thug. The
noble Justice within our hearts always reminds us of the rights of
others. Once we consider that they're people just like us, we realize
that they have rights regarding their character and reputation. Most of
us know that we're not free to think whatever we want to about our
parents or others in authority over us in school or at work. Some of us
don't allow ourselves to entertain unpleasant thoughts about our
brothers, sisters or anyone we live with. And a few people are careful
about what they think about friends and acquaintances. But there are
very few people who are careful about what they think of the integrity
of outsiders, like the plumber, or the state representative who governs
us, or someone we met outside our circle.
Fairness
to the Character of Others
Justice is holding court within each of us, and it demands that we
think fair thoughts about everybody, whether near or far away, superior
or under us.
pg 144
When we make up our minds to think fairly, Justice has a group of
servants ready to help. Their job is to take care of this very issue,
and they're ready to serve as soon as they're called.
Impartiality
Impartiality wants to help. He offers us eyeglasses that have the power
to bring faraway things into focus, and make dim things more clear.
When we wear these, we can see around corners and understand the other
side of an issue. We see that Mr. Jones may be cranky, but, after all,
he's still trying to do what's right. The boy in the story who wrote
home about his teacher, 'Mr. Temple can be difficult, but at least he's
fair,' must have been wearing his Impartial eyeglasses. His Impartial
schoolmate sees that Brad isn't really a sneak, he's just a shy boy
who's anxious to fit in. Impartiality suggests to us that Miss Jenkins'
annoying comment wasn't meant to be spiteful, she was just being
awkward. Impartiality points out that even government employees are
conscientious and want to do their best, that the pastor probably does
try to practice what he preaches, that the often-criticized plumber
really does take an interest in his work and wants to do a good job.
Even in cases where the person doesn't have the best intentions and
isn't trying his best, we should pity him and help him if we can. After
all, in these cases, the person has probably had a tough time all his
life. Impartiality shows us that people from France, Germany or Russia
have good qualities that even we would do well to strive for. It
reminds us that a Democrat or Republican, whichever he may be, has
something to teach his opponent. But Impartiality doesn't take sides.
He doesn't think to himself, 'My
family (or country, or political party, or school) is pretty sure to be
right about everything, and it's the best there is in the world!' He
understands that the other side, whether it's family, school or
country, might have something to say that's worth
pg 145
hearing. Fair play in everything is his motto. In the end, that makes
him the most loyal supporter of whichever side he belongs to.
Prejudice
The opposite of impartiality is Prejudice. Prejudice offers you a pair
of eyeglasses, too--but his eyeglasses aren't clear and they don't let
daylight through. His eyeglasses are rose-colored, or black- or green-
or yellow-colored, depending on the situation. We can't see people for
what they really are when we're wearing these eyeglasses. Instead, all
we see is that one person is black, another person is as rosy as the
dawn, someone else is an evil yellow or sickly greenish, depending on
the warmth, or envy, or hatred or jealousy that Prejudice puts in our
minds. That's all we see, even though we don't know anything about the
character of the people we're looking at. People who let Prejudice
cloud their minds are unable to be impartial, whether the Prejudice is
in favor of those they like, or against those they dislike. In fact,
dislike itself is actually Prejudice. Real [agape] love sees the truth clearly
and without bias. There's enough beauty in the people we love, and
enough right in the causes we care about, that we don't need to be
afraid for the light of day to show us what they truly are. We don't
need the eyeglasses of Prejudice to protect us from the truth.
The love we have for our country won't be blind patriotism if we love
her with impartial love. Our country is great and glorious, and can
bear the harsh light of day. But what about the friend who claims to be
candid by exposing the fact that the whole country is headed for ruin,
or who goes on and on about one of our faults in the name of honesty?
It's true that a superpower like ours needs to be gentle and careful,
and it's probably true that we're guilty of the fault our friend is
harping on. Maybe we are too
nitpicky, or lazy, or selfish, or whatever. But our friend is wrong to
magnify one part of the whole picture out of proportion and making too
much of a single fault or weakness, as if that's all there is. We can
learn a lesson from such a person, even though he's no fun to be
around. But
pg 146
we need to determine to only use the spectacles of impartiality. They
bring the complete picture out in accurate detail.
Respect
Impartiality never acts alone. At his right side is Lord Justice's
other Servant: Respect. Nobody can be just and fair if he doesn't
follow the Apostle Paul's command to 'Honor all men.' We tend to object
and claim that we only honor those who are worthy of honor. But that's
just another way of saying that we can pick and choose who we should
think fairly about. The fact is, we should treat every person, man,
woman or child, with honor. That isn't just because of the natural
brotherhood of man that we have because we're all children of the same
Father, but because, within every person we meet, there are the same
Rulers of Mansoul--Love, Justice, Intellect, Reason, Imagination--no
matter how dormant they might be. It's only when we honor all men that
we see how worthy of honor they are. The stark light of impartiality
may show us another person's faults, but that same stark light will
also show us that one single fault, no matter how annoying, doesn't
make the whole person. Even the worst-natured person has some beautiful
qualities that demand our reverence. Hardly a day goes by that we don't
hear about the hidden good in some unsuspecting soul. Honor means that
we owe it to others to be gentle with them, to listen to what they say
courteously no matter how boring or long-winded we think they are, and
to respect their opinions, no matter how foolish we think they are. A
person with irrational opinions will be more likely to listen and
consider the other side if his own opinions are listened to
respectfully.
Conceit
Why don't we honor each other? Because we're blinded by our regard for
ourselves. We're so absorbed in thinking about ourselves that we can't
see the beauty in the
pg 147
people around us, even though we might look up to total strangers [such as football stars or movie actresses].
Ego and self-absorption are the demons that prevent us from giving
honor to those we should honor.
Discernment
Notice how the servants of Justice work together. Impartiality is
accompanied by Respect, and Respect is supported by Discernment. People
talk about being deceived by this or that, and we hear about people's
affections being disappointed or their friends being disloyal. But all
of those things don't have to be. Every House of the Heart has a modest
servant of Justice whose name is Discernment. If you let him do his job
unhindered by Vanity or Prejudice, then he'll bring you a very accurate
report about the character of everyone you meet. He'll show you the
faults, the virtues, the good and the evil of everyone you come in
contact with. Even more than that, he'll hold his mirror up to your own
Mansoul so that you'll be able to see that, even though a particular
person has good points as well as faults, the specific faults that he
has aren't above tempting and snaring yourself. Therefore, that
person might not be the best one for you to choose as an intimate
friend. Some people neglect to discern the character of people they
meet. They ruin their lives by joining themselves to the wrong person,
not because of the goodness in that person, but because the two of them
share the same weaknesses. We owe honor to everyone, but Discernment
comes alongside to help us be fair to ourselves by choosing people to
befriend or to serve whose characters will strengthen our own.
Appreciation
Discernment can be too zealous to find fault, so another servant of
Justice is there to help. This servant is as exquisite and delicate as
Shakespeare's sprite, Ariel. This servant's name is
pg 148
Appreciation. His job is to accordingly weigh and consider the strong
points and good qualities of a person, country, cause, book, or
painting. Appreciation is a delightful companion in the House of the
Heart. He continually brings in reasons for joy. It's so pleasant and
refreshing to detect a streak of unselfishness here, or manners in that
person, or honor somewhere else. He helps us to notice and value the
beauty of perfection in a person's work, whether that work is a great
poem, or a thoroughly swept room. It's good to recognize the unique
beauties in another country and to discover that their people have
positive character traits that are different from the people of our own
country. There is nothing that gives more joy to living than
Appreciation. Even though we owe others Appreciation and they owe it to
us, we get more than we give when we show Appreciation. There is no
pleasure more pure than seeing the good in everything, and seeing the
beauty in everyone.
Depreciation
Depreciation is a sneering demon whose mission is to replace this
warm-hearted servant of Justice. For some people, nothing is ever quite
good enough. They find fault with the weather, their dinner, where they
live, and who they're with. If you say, 'What a beautiful day it is!'
then they'll answer, 'Yes, today isn't too bad,' but then they'll make
some critical remark about yesterday. 'Mrs. Jones is so nice!' 'Yes, if
only she didn't wear such hideous clothes!' 'I had a great time in
Hawaii!' 'You did? There are always so many Japanese people in the
hotels there.' And that's how the depreciatory person lives, moving
through the world like a cuttlefish, ready to blacken the waters
wherever he goes. It's helpful to remember that Depreciation is the
same as Injustice. A depreciative remark might be true
pg 149
in actual fact, but it's false in spirit because it pulls a small part
from the whole. It singles out one minor defect and neglects many other
excellent points. Depreciation is sometimes motivated by the monster
named Envy. Envy is always going around putting obstacles in Justice's
way, trivializing what we owe to other people. Depreciation can also
come from Thoughtlessness, which is a kind of Self-occupation. Many of
the crude, unworthy criticisms that we hear about books, pictures,
speeches, a song, or a political party are caused by Thoughtlessness.
We won't allow ourselves to depreciate others if we remember that
Appreciation is a form of Justice that we owe to the characters and
works of other people.
pg 150
Chapter
14 - Truth: Justice In Word
Truth
is not Violent
If our thoughts are not all our own, and if what we think about others
is a matter of Justice or Injustice, then we owe certain words to all
the people we talk to. If we don't say those words, then we're being
unfair to others. If we say a false thing to someone and they believe
us, then that person has every right to be angry with us. If he doesn't
believe us, then he has every right to despise us. We've hurt him.
Maybe we haven't hurt him physically, but we've hurt his mind and soul,
and they sting and feel sore when they're hurt in that way, just the
same as our skin stings and feels sore when someone hits us.
Professional champion boxers probably get used to bruises. In the same
way, people who put themselves in situations where they hear and read
things that are false will learn to think untruthfully, and will be
forced to speak falsely even if they'd never deliberately lie. There is
Truth in every Mansoul, acting as a servant to Justice. But Truth is
never aggressive or violent, and there are lots of noisy voices around
trying to drown her out. It's up to us to choose who we're going to
listen to.
pg 151
There's a painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence by Sandro
Boticcelli. He was grieving and indignant because Savonarola, his
friend and teacher, had been martyred. In his painting,
you can see the noisy voices trying to drown out Truth (calumny means slander). But the figures are
surprising. You would have expected the painter to depict the
slanderous demons as wrinkled hags, ugly and hostile. None of us would
succumb to temptation if sin approached us looking hateful. Botticelli
used what he heard about an old painting by a Greek named Apelles. In
the foreground, he put a pretty young woman with a heavenly blue robe
over a white dress of innocence, but slashes in her clothing reveal a
black garment underneath it all. She is calm and serene, and looking
down as if she regrets what she must do, while her right hand is
dragging forward the naked and prostrate figure of Innocence, the
accused, by the hair of his head. This is a true depiction of Slander.
There are two beautiful maidens wearing lovely robes with Calumny. They
look like they're smoothing her hair, but they're actually whispering
in her ears. One of them is Deception, who uses soft, coaxing words to
make lies sound like truth. The other is Envy. She's pretty, too. Envy
always seems like Fairness and Justice to ourselves.
The dark, cowled figure of Treachery is holding Calumny's left wrist.
He's stretching out his hand to King Midas's throne, demanding a
hearing. His long ears betray his real character: Falsehood and all her
crew, Slander, Envy, and the rest of them are, in reality, no more than
foolishness. Suspicion is whispering into one of King Midas's ears, and
Prejudice is whispering
pg 152
into his other ear. He's leaning his ears first to one, and then to the
other, so that their words are the only ones he can hear. The scene
takes place in a beautiful, vaulted gallery, richly decorated with
sculpture. After all, Slander and her peers don't thrive in places
where people are working hard and living simply. Way in the background
stands the naked Truth, pure and lovely, turning her eyes away from the
horrible scene and raising her hand towards heaven, the one place she's
sure to be heard. The only thing between her and the poor tortured
figure of Innocence is dark Remorse. It's a good idea to keep this
vision in our minds, not only because it's beautiful, but because it
will remind us of many things. Falsehood, Slander, Envy, Folly,
Prejudice, and Suspicion may approach us in pleasant places and in
deceptive ways, they may torture innocent people and drive away holy
Truth with the tumult of their voices in our ears.
Slander
Truth can be driven away, but she's always there. We need to keep our
hearts still and quiet to hear her words, and we need to keep our
tongues obedient in order to speak her words. Slander means saying
damaging things about other people. We need to keep our tongues from
saying evil things, lying, and slandering. Wesley said that if we say
something evil about someone that's evil, that's slander. If we say
something evil that's false, then that's lying. Most people are careful
to be truthful about what they say about the people they live with, but
are they as careful to speak the truth about their next-door neighbor,
or the people who live around the corner? It's so easy to make a
comment about Jones being sneaky, or to say that Bob is a creep, or
Mrs. Jones doesn't pay her maid enough, or that Bob's wife over-dresses
her children, or Mindy cheats
pg 153
from Marie's translation, or Harrison isn't doing his share of the
work. We say these things about the people we deal with casually, often
without any intent to be mean. But two things have happened: our
neighbor's character and reputation have been wounded, and Truth, which
is possibly the most beautiful tenant in the House of the heart, has
also been wounded because of something we said.
Deception
and Envy
It's not always because we're being thoughtless that we let deception
persuade us that a lie is true, until we end up saying it. Envy is
another ever-present demon. It's always ready with a slanderous word
for people who are doing better than we are. If they dance better than
us, we might say that we don't care about dancing, and they must be
wasting a lot of time practicing. If they dress better, we might say
that they spend too much money and thought on their clothes. If they
speak better, Envy accuses them of 'putting on airs.' If they're
better-looking than we are, Envy says that beauty is only skin deep,
and a pretty face is worthless if it decorates an empty head. In the
Middle Ages, people were afraid of Envy. They considered it one of the
Seven Deadly Sins. Now, though, we seem to forgotten that Envy is even
a fault. When we allow ourselves to think grudging thoughts about the
things or opportunities that others have, we begin to tell ourselves
that 'it's not fair.' In other words, we cover up our own injustice by
disguising it as justice and fairness to ourselves. But we're only
deceiving ourselves, and every deceit renders us incapable of speaking
the truth.
Hearing
and Reading Slander
It isn't just slanderous talking that wounds Truth. Listening to, and
reading slander may be the death of her. A simple rule will help us to
discern what kind of reading and hearing is
pg 154
slanderous. Truth is never violent. Any newspaper, magazine, book,
speech or website that brings strong, bitter charges against the other
side is sure to be slanderous, at least for the moment. If we steep
ourselves in that kind of speaking or reading, then, as our punishment,
we'll become incapable of discerning Truth, and we'll be happy about
saying evil things.
Fanaticism
Here's what happens to people who become fanatics. It isn't that they
refuse to believe anything that the other side says. It's that they can't. They've lost the ability to
consider the other side, and
efforts to convince them are useless. A man can be a fanatic about
peace, or a fanatic about war, or a fanatic for Christianity or a
fanatic for atheism. It's a sad fact that good causes as well as evil
causes have their share of fanatics. They do more harm than good for
the very cause they hope to support because of their inability to see
more than one side of an issue. A good cause can also have its share of
martyrs, but martyrs aren't obnoxious and belligerent. They may suffer
for their cause, but they never scream and yell for it. After all the
controversy and squabbling from the media in different countries from
both sides over the Boer
War, it was good and refreshing to find a book by a British officer
that honored the courage and endurance of both the Boers and the
British. Even the Boer women who followed their husbands into the
trenches were spoken of kindly and reverently. The most useful thing a
citizen can have is a mind that's capable of discerning the Truth,
whether it happens to be found on our side, or our opponent's. But only
people who are careful about what
they hear and how they listen
can have a discerning mind.
The
Sovereign Good
As Francis Bacon says, 'No matter how things may seem in men's depraved
pg 155
judgment and affections, it's still a fact that Truth, which only
judges itself, teaches that researching truth (wooing truth), knowing truth (the presence of truth) and
believing truth (enjoying truth)
is human nature's highest good.'
pg 156
Chapter
15 - Spoken Truth
We haven't yet discussed 'telling the truth' because you can only tell
it after you've seen it, known it in your heart, and, as Sir Roger de
Coverley said, believed that 'there is a lot to be said on both sides' of
most issues.
Accuracy
The first of the maidservants that serve spoken truth is Accuracy.
Accuracy is the habit of making sure that what we say expresses the
exact fact so far as we know it. Once we've said what we believe is a
fact, let's not qualify it by adding things like, 'At least, that's
what I think,' or Anyway,
that's my opinion,' 'Maybe it
wasn't quite like that,' or 'All the girls were there. At least, some
of them,' We walked ten miles! Well, six, anyway.' These kinds of
qualifications imply that what we said wasn't accurate. We're convicted
about saying something that's not totally true, so we try to clear our
conscience by overdoing the emphasis on minute details. The result is
that the people listening to us doubt whether anything we say is true.
But what are we supposed to do when we've already said something, and
then begun to doubt whether it's true? Once we've spoken something, we
need to leave it alone. It's useless to unsay it, or qualify it, or
explain, or change it, or expect another person to confirm it, or deny
it. Considering how final our words are should make us
pg 157
more careful about rushing to say things that we don't know enough
about. It will prevent us from saying things like, 'Mom, Mom! There are
hundreds of cats in the backyard!' 'Really, Gage? You counted them?'
'Well, okay, maybe not hundreds. But, anyway, there's our cat and
another one!' We need to be certain of our facts before we speak. And
we shouldn't talk about things that we only have the vaguest knowledge
about. People are too quick to assume intimate knowledge about things
they know very little about, like literature and art, when they talk.
Painstaking
Meticulous Detail isn't the Same as Accuracy
All the same, we should remember that Accuracy isn't the same as
scrupulosity. Ending a discussion with boring trivial facts isn't the
way to be truthful. A person can avoid a false assumption of knowledge
without resorting to 'I don't know,' which is very inconvenient to the
person listening.
A variation of this is the annoying habit of correcting the details
when someone else is speaking. Someone says, 'I saw seven men on the
street,' and the scrupulous person says, 'I beg your pardon, but it was
actually six men and a teenager.' 'I saw Mr. Jones on Tuesday,' and the
correction is, 'If you remember, I think it was Wednesday.' 'We've had
great weather all week!' 'Not really, it rained on Thursday.' and so
on, much to everyone's annoyance. There aren't many things that can
kill a conversation quicker than the nitpicky habit of patrolling the
accuracy of other people in trivial details that make little difference
to the conversation. Common courtesy demands that we receive what
people say in good faith. Assuming that, it really makes no difference
whether there were ten or twelve people in the parking lot, or whether
a flock of
pg 158
birds on the telephone wire that we passed on the road numbered eighty
or a hundred. Accuracy requires that we speak the facts as far as we
know them and to try not to say what we don't know. But it certainly
doesn't mean that we're supposed to keep watch over what other people
say so that we can correct their information. Our own information might
be even less accurate than theirs!
Exaggeration
The habit of exaggeration is another casual way of not being accurate.
We might say we have 'a million things to do' when we have four.
'Everyone says so,' when we mean that our friends Serena and Maggie
said so, or maybe even just Serena. What parent hasn't known the
tiresome tyranny of 'But we always
do it this way,' when it's only been done that way once. In cases of
sickness, war, and disaster, people are quick to make the most and
worst out of what's happened. Newspaper headlines that report the
greatest number of casualties are most often quoted and most readily
believed, even when tomorrow's headline shows how wrong the number was.
How can we maintain a delicate sense of Truth if we allow ourselves to
listen to rumors, and spread them? We need to use our common sense to
sift through the things we hear, and even more so with what we read. We
should wait for facts to be verified before we start spreading reports.
Men have been ruined and family reputations destroyed because of the
thoughtless spreading of an idle rumor.
Exaggeration in speech, even when it's done foolishly rather than
maliciously, isn't being Accurate. If we're 'awfully sorry' not to go
for a walk, or 'ecstatically happy' to get a letter, what's left
to express ourselves when we lose our best friend, or experience a
life-changing joy?
pg 159
The
Habit of Generalizing
If we want to be Truth-Tellers like King Alfred, then we need to be
careful to avoid the habit of generalizing. Generalizing means stating
something about a whole group of people or things when we only know it
to be true in a few cases. 'All the cups are cracked,' when just one is
cracked. 'All the streets go north' when just two do. 'Ugh, I can't
stand Rossetti's pictures!' when the critic has only seen one of them.
'I love Schumann's music!'
when only one piece has been heard. We need to stop these kinds of
generalizations before they come out of our mouths. They aren't
truthful. They give the impression that we have more knowledge or
experience than we really do. When we indulge in this kind of
generalization, we make ourselves incapable of having a scientific mind
that makes accurate observations and keeps exact records.
Telling
a Good Story
Many people are tempted to tell a good story about a trivial incident.
If a dog lifts his tail and cocks his ears when he hears a whistle,
they think there's enough fun in that incident to make you roar with
laughter. All power to their elbow, as an Irishman would say. Humor is
the ability to recognize and describe the ludicrous side of things.
Like mercy, it's a gift that blesses the one who gives as much as the
one who receives. But it's still dangerous. It's hard to resist the
temptation to be irreverent, rude, or even just a little bit malicious
if it embellishes the story. Even if those pitfalls are resisted, there
can still be a tendency to poke fun, and tell small jokes, until it's
annoying. A wisecracking person needs to exercise restraint, otherwise
he becomes a bore. Also, his embellishments need to be obviously
unbelievable, like the
pg 160
golden leg of Miss Kilmansegg. Otherwise, his accuracy is in doubt, and
he risks Truth for the sake of a laugh.
The
Realm of Fiction--Essential and Accidental Truth
What about fables, poems, romance adventures, the whole realm of
fiction? There are two kinds of truth. One is accidental truth. It's the kind of
incidental truth we need to pay attention to in our normal talk, facts
about such-and-such a thing happening in a certain place at a specific
time. The other is essential
truth. It's the kind of universal Truth we find in art. Here's an
example: If a person has a specific kind of character, then he'll think
and behave in a specific way with certain consequences. Or, if a poet
experiences a specific part of the world of nature, he'll get certain
ideas. Or, some common incidents of daily life, like a dog chewing on a
bone, will bring fables to the mind of a thinker and he'll see in them
some illustrations about life. This kind of fiction is very useful to
us, whether we find it in poems or adventure stories. It teaches us
morals and shows us how we should act. It role models what we should do
in certain circumstances and tells us what to expect if we choose to
act in a certain way. It illustrates how some little fault that seems
trivial can have dreadful consequences, so that we realize that the
fault isn't so trivial but is, in fact, a deep flaw in our character.
Perhaps it's a type of selfishness, or shallowness, or deceit, and it
can devastate a person's life. The only way to learn these things is
through fiction, or by experiencing them first-hand, and fiction
writers hope to spare us from the tragedy of experiencing ruin.
The
Value of Fiction Depends on the Worth of the Writer
You'll quickly realize that the ability
pg 161
of fiction to teach us morals depends on the writer's wisdom, insight
and goodness. A writer with a shallow mind will write fiction that
presents false, shallow teaching. That's why we should only read the
very best fiction. It's the only kind that will teach us essential
truth.
Fiction
Influences What We Have a Passion For
Fiction doesn't just teach morals and manners. Our enthusiasms and even
our religion can be inspired and inflamed by fiction, whether it's
prose or poetry. Jesus Himself presented some of His most profound
teaching in the wonderful stories he told. We call them Parables. Some
people are too severely literal. They don't understand that there are
two kinds of truth, the merely accidental
kind and the essential kind.
One is fleeting and for the here and now, but the other is eternal. One
is true for today, but the other is Truth for all time. When they throw
scorn at the Bible by telling us that the Garden of Eden isn't a
literal place, or that the serpent and the apple are fables, or that
the flood and a lot of other things are allegories, we won't let it
shake our faith.
Essential
Truth
What matters most in Bible stories is their essential truth. All godly people
have known what it's like when their 'walls of Jericho' fall by the
power of their faith and the 'trumpet blast' of their prayers. They've
experienced how the 'sea of difficulty' that threatened to overwhelm
them suddenly 'parted' so they could pass through it. They've heard the
'still small voice' of the Lord in the cool of the evening, speaking to
their quiet and obedient hearts. They've discovered from first-hand
experience how God reveals His ways to people through the songs,
stories, poems and prophecies of Scripture, and how He reveals what's
in the hearts of people. These are the kinds of things that really
matter. People who understand this aren't troubled by conflicting
details that critics debate about. They're content to wait until all
the facts are in about whether a certain
pg 162
text accurately records the events that happened in a given year, or
whether Genesis was written by one man or two. All of these details are
interesting, but they have nothing to do with the essential, eternal
Truth--the revelation of what was previously unknown about God and
about man. The revelations of these profound mysteries are what give
the books of the Bible the seal of Divine authorship.
pg 163
Chapter
16 - Some Causes Of Lying
Malicious
Lies
Being nitpicky about trivial details, rash generalizations,
exaggeration and changing the truth to be funny are like minor battles
that attack the fortress of Truth when they find an opportunity. But
Truth's fortress also has scouts and miners who dig under its
foundations. It takes more work to deal with those enemies. As we've
already seen, there are Hatred and Envy, which lead to Slander. Of all
the lies there are, the meanest kind is a lie that's told to make a
person's friends think less of him. There are laws to prevent
reputations from being hurt, just as there are laws to protect people's
physical bodies. But in spite of the laws, it's still possible to make
casual remarks that can damage a person's reputation without being sued
and taken to court.
Cowardly
Lies
Cowardice often leads to falsehood. When we've done or said something
that we're ashamed of, our first impulse is to deny it. We claim that
it wasn't us who dropped the match that caused the fire, or forgot to
write a thank you note that should have been sent, or made the comment
that offended Mrs. Foster. When a coward's guilt is found out and he's
caught, he takes refuge in lies. Instead of being cowards, let's gather
our courage and own up to our mistakes. Our friends will love us more
in spite of our mistakes if we admit to them and confess that we did
it. They'll appreciate our courage
pg 164
and respect us for remembering that God hates liars.
'Dare to be truthful, faults aren't helped by lies.
A fault plus a lie has just doubled in size!'
Withholding
Information is a Form of Falsehood
The habit of being too reserved to share things is related to the
falsehood of concealing truth. Even though it's not actively telling a
lie, it's not telling the truth, either. For instance, if you're asked,
'Where have you been all day?' it's concealment to answer, 'I walked
towards Milton,' when you really made it all the way into Milton, did a
little shopping, and bought some chocolate. Candid talking means we
should make things plain, and being open and honest about our little
affairs is part of being Truthful. We owe that openness to the people
we live with. The fact is, most people know when they're not being told
the complete truth, and when something is being held back from them.
Boasting
Lies
Conceited people tell bragging lies. They think that their friends will
like them more because of what they have, or the things they've seen or
done, or for the impressive people they know. Like any other kind of
lying, this is foolish as well as wrong. If our boastful lies makes
foolish, conceited people like us, then their very friendship is like a
blot on our character. It does us no credit. After all, the only people
we can impress that way are foolish, conceited people. Good, sensible
people can tell we're lying. The more we brag, the less they think of us.
Adventurous
Lies
Some people spend so much time imagining fancy castles and adventures,
that it comes out in their talk. They'll tell you that they've been
here or there, that they've talked with this or that famous person, or
maybe that they were kidnapped and left on some deserted island, or
that their parents aren't their real parents because they're really a
changeling or the child of a duke or of a
pg 165
gypsy. This kind of lying is the result of a dangerous mental tendency.
When people can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy so
that they mix them up in conversation, it shows that they're losing
their ability to Reason. They're losing their grip on reality and may
be headed for the mental ward. We should never allow ourselves to say
things that our Reason and our Conscience can't approve of.
Lies
for the Sake of Friendship
It's not easy to tell the truth when you know that it will get a friend
in trouble. 'Did you leave the gate open?' 'No.' 'Was it Tom?' You know
that it was Tom, and that it's his fault that the dog got out and dug
up the flower bed. What should you say? No decent person could tattle
on someone else, but it isn't right to lie to protect him, either. If
you answer, 'Tom is my friend. I can't tell what he does or doesn't
do,' then it's most likely that nobody will ask you any more about it.
One more thing: Some people use the excuse that 'All's fair in love and
war' to lie. They think that telling the truth is important when it
regards their side, but that it doesn't matter about their opponent's
side. What they forget is that a lie is like a double-edged sword. It
hurts the one who tells it even more than the person who hears it. A
person can't have a pure, blameless life unless both his friends and
enemies know that his words can be trusted.
Magna
est Veritas (Great is the Truth)
Let's take courage. Truth, which serves Justice, is a thing of beauty
in every Mansoul. She has attendants who serve her. They include
Accuracy and Clarity, whose job is to make sure that every word that is
spoken means exactly what it seems to mean, nothing more and nothing
less. Genuineness makes sure that every word that comes from the mouth
is what's sincerely felt in the heart so that we're saying exactly what
pg 166
we think. Honesty makes us faithful to keep our promises no matter how
inconvenient, except when it's a promise that we should never have made
in the first place. In that case, the only honorable thing to do is to
break the wrong promise, which was a mistake to have made. As always,
each of these qualities has its demons. Duplicity is two-faced
and full of hints, insinuations and double meanings. Pretension tries
to displace Sincerity by pouring out congratulations, praise, sympathy
and kind words that aren't really meant. Treachery breaks faith and
makes promises meaningless. But, let's take courage. These are enemies
that every valiant mansoul can conquer. 'Truth is great, and it will
prevail.'
pg 167
Chapter
17 - Integrity: Justice In Action
Integrity
in Our Work: 'Slacken Up, Don't Work
So Hard'
Recently, British newspapers accused British workers of taking a new
motto: 'Go easy, slacken up, don't work so hard!' In other words, a
worker who was paid by the hour determined to do as little work as
possible during his shift. For instance, a bricklayer might be limited
to laying a certain number of bricks, maybe half as many as he would
normally do, and so on with other jobs. This was supposed to help
unemployed men since this would ensure that there would be more work to
go around.
Wise people recognize the error in this kind of thinking. The man who
really helps his fellow workers is the one who does good, honest work,
getting as much done as he can during his shift. He motivates the
people who have money to spend it by hiring workers, knowing that
they'll get their money's worth, whether it's building houses or
making shoes. The worker who slows down inconveniences his employer and
makes him lose money. Other employers won't want to hire people in that
profession. Such a worker gives his profession and his country a bad
name. Of all the things that a man or country can suffer,
pg 168
the one that takes the longest to overcome is a ruined reputation. A
man who does less than he can, or worse than he can, may flatter
himself about how helpful he's being to his fellow workers, but he
isn't
deceiving anyone.
A
Standard
In one corner of London's Trafalgar Square, there's a piece of granite
that's marked with a measure of exactly one yard. If there's ever any
dispute about how long a yard is, it can be settled easily by measuring
against this standard. Every person has something similar in his own
heart--a standard that measures, not yards, but the integrity of
people's work. He knows whether a certain man's work is thorough and
complete. We'd call that honest work. This unwritten law of integrity
is the standard that all true men (men who aren't greedy or lazy) use
to measure people's work as either honest, or dishonest. If a man's
work is honest, he's considered a person of integrity, which means that he's a whole man.
All
of Us Are Paid Workers
We may not be bricklayers or carpenters, but we're all paid workers in
some sense, and none of us are excused from the obligation of integrity
in the work we do.
School children and young college students are paid in two ways: the
cost of their schooling, and the trust of their parents and teachers.
There's another 'employer' they're working for, too. This employer
might seem lenient at the time, but he'll harass the poor worker with a
heavy penalty of guilt later. That employer is--yourself. Every person owes
integrity to himself as much as to others. When we don't produce
thorough, timely work done well, it's we ourselves who suffer the most
in the end.
pg 169
After graduation, whether a person works at home, or goes out to make
their mark in the world, there are still employers to satisfy and wages
to be earned. Those wages may be the regular, generous payment of the
freedom to live at home and enjoy the privileges of the household. No
matter how easy it is for us, even if our 'boss' is only Mom or Dad,
we're still under the obligation of integrity. There are certain things
we owe in return for the favors granted to us. They may be due to our
parents and family, or to our employer or boss. Even more than that, we
owe it to ourselves and our future. Even now, we're making or damaging
our character day by day. The truth is, it's easier to be diligent and
exacting at a job or in the classroom. At home, it's easy to get away
with avoiding work, or doing tasks half-heartedly.
Integrity
Grows
An 'integer' is a whole
number, and a man of integrity
is a whole man, complete and unimpaired. Rome wasn't built in a day,
and it's the same with a person of integrity--it doesn't happen
overnight. From childhood, he's been faced with temptations to go
through the
motions, dawdle, procrastinate, get out of work, or even to cheat by
having somebody else do his work and then passing it off as his own.
He's been tempted to think, 'It doesn't matter,' 'That's good enough,'
'it's no worse than John's,' 'He'll never know the difference,' 'Nobody
will notice,' 'It isn't worth taking too much trouble,' or, 'This won't
be on the test,' as many pages of useful material doesn't get read. A
person of integrity has to stave off these and a hundred other
temptations to put off his work. He tells himself, 'I owe it to my
parents, (or to my teacher or employer) to do this as well as
pg 170
I can, and as quickly as possible. Even more than that, I owe it to myself.' And then he sets his mind
to what he must. He doesn't let a lazy friend pull him from his work,
and he doesn't let an inviting hobby distract him until the job is done.
Everything he's done has helped him become the person of character he
is now. Every little bit of work, Latin verbs, Algebraic formulas, a
bookshelf he built, everything he's done has been an honest job. It's
not that he's never shirked a job that came his way because he
preferred to work on his favorite hobby, but in any job he's done, he's
never taken the attitude of, 'Go easy, slacken up, don't work so hard!'
The times he did shirk, he just didn't do the job at all and he's owned
up to it. But what he has done, was done honestly. That's how a person
of integrity was developed--one step at a time. 'I could never work
that hard all the time for so long, no matter what could be gained from
it!' Thinking that way is a mistake. A whole worker does his job with his
whole heart. He does the job completely and cheerfully. And, when he's
done, he actually has more leisure time to do what he wants to than the
'don't work so hard!' guys who never finish their work.
It's wonderful to be able to look back, even on just a single year, and
feel the satisfaction of all the tasks we were given that we did
thoroughly and did well, and were wholly
done so that we kept our integrity. A good son might have written down
phone messages accurately. A good student might have put his whole
focus on his studies. Even games are better when the players put their
whole selves into it. Any job worth doing needs Integrity.
'Do
The Next Thing'
If
you don't do it now, you'll be in the same state
Tomorrow, the next day, you'll still
hesitate.
Trying to decide causes more delays
And some day you'll weep over all the
lost days.
(paraphrased from Marlowe)
Everyone understands that Integrity is a virtue. Even thinking of
Integrity inspires us within. We think to ourselves, 'I want to be a
whole, trustworthy person. I'm determined to be a person of Integrity.'
But, just like it is in the big world, in the Kingdom of Mansoul,
having Integrity isn't just a matter of wishful thinking, it depends on
other things. Nobody can have the quality of Integrity
pg 171
without putting his mind and heart into trying to have it.
Often, someone who's eager and excited about starting a project never
gets it finished because he's preoccupied and scattered doing all kinds
of other things, instead of simply doing what comes next.
For instance, a student is supposed to be writing a paper about the
history of England. He starts off looking up the Battle of Hastings in
the encyclopedia, and then gets sidetracked reading about Hannibal.
That's so interesting that, before he knows it, his time is up and his
paper isn't even started, or has to be hastily finished and isn't
written
very well. The best policy is to recognize that there's always a next thing to be done, either in
our work or play, and the next thing,
no matter how trivial it seems, is the right thing to do. It isn't only
our projects that will benefit. Our own character benefits, too,
because every time we make ourselves do the next thing, we develop a little
more power to manage the unruly demon of Whim, which can be as untamed
as a wild colt.
Do
the Most Important Thing
But sometimes figuring out what the next
thing is isn't so simple. Sometimes it means prioritizing. There
might be twenty emails to answer, a dozen errands to do, a stack of
books you want to read, and shelves and drawers to be sorted and
arranged - and you'd like to get started on all of them at the same
time!
There's a saying, 'Never do today what you can put off til tomorrow.'
The dawdling procrastinator is glad to finally have a piece of advice
he can actually follow! But that's not really what it means. It's
really a light-hearted way of saying that we need to put first things first. The ability
to prioritize and organize tasks is what distinguishes an intelligent
person who gets things done, and someone who lets himself get swamped
and overwhelmed by details. An unintelligent person will work steadily
reading all twenty emails as each one comes into his inbox.
pg 172
He ends up not getting through all of them, and the three or four that
urgently required a response have to be left for tomorrow.
Knowing the difference between what needs
to be done right away, and what could
be done, gets easier with practice. At first it takes careful attention
and thought. But after awhile, the mind and body get used to doing some
things automatically. In time, a person who develops the habit of
singling out the most important tasks to do first will save himself, as
well as everyone around him, a lot of annoyance and inconvenience. He
also gains some Integrity.
The
Habit of Finishing
Anything worth starting is worth finishing, and anything worth doing is
worth doing well. Don't let yourself start a dozen projects so that
they end up collecting in a box, all unfinished. There always seem to
be fifty great reasons to start a new thing, but here is where we need
to exert some control over that wild colt whose name is Whim. It's a
good idea to make ourselves stick to the thing we've already started
until it's finished. Even then, we're tempted to rush and cut corners
to get it done so we can move onto the new project. But we need to make
ourselves do each task as perfectly as we can, remembering that
everything we turn out is like a little bit of ourselves. What comes
from us needs to be thorough and complete, because that's what's
Integrity means.
Idle, careless and unpredictable people may be fun to hang out with,
but they don't turn out honest work, and they're not building up
integrity
of character within themselves. Integrity needs a foundation of
constancy, attention and perseverance. In the end, Integrity results in
gladness because people who are honest about the work they do get it
done, so that they have free time in good conscience. They aren't
secretly anxious about the thought of all the things they didn't get
to, or the things they did halfway.
pg 173
Integrity
in Use of Time: Drifters and Dawdlers
It's not good to think that time is our own to do whatever we want
with. We all have jobs and duties, and a certain amount of our time
needs to be given to doing them. It's amazing how much time there is in
a day, and how many things we can fit in if we really try. It's just as
amazing how a day, or a week, or a year can slip through our fingers
and be gone with nothing accomplished to show for it. We might say that
at least we didn't do anything harmful in that time, and that we didn't
mean to use our time badly. We just somehow allowed ourselves to drift.
Some students drift through their school years, and some people drift
through their entire lives. They never accomplish anything because
they've never purposed to do
anything. They fail their exams, they fail in their careers, they fail
to provide for their family, they fail to serve their community or
country--not because they lack intelligence or because they're unkind,
but because they never recognize that using
time wisely is a duty.
They dawdle through the workday, waiting for somebody to make them do what they're supposed
to. But they're mistaken. Nobody can even make a child do anything. If
a child is obedient, it's because he's making himself obey. If he's
industrious, it's because he's making himself work. All the king's
horses and all the king's men can't make a dawdler productive. A person
has to make himself do the things he needs to do at the proper time.
It's a great thing to be able to make oneself work. Every attempt makes
it a little easier the next time. Once we jump into the saddle of that
easy pony named Habit, it becomes a real satisfaction to be able to get
a day's work done in a day and have free time left over to enjoy doing
leisure activities.
pg 174
Stealing
Time
Some people love to have a little project of their own going on during
the time they're supposed to be doing something else. A girl working
the cash register has a book propped up that she's trying to read. A
student is trying chemistry experiments when he's supposed to be
reading. The project may be worthwhile, but it's still stealing time
away from something else.
As we'll see coming up, we can't afford to have little cracks in our
character. Our integrity won't allow us to steal like this in good
conscience. Every bit of work has its proper time. The time that
belongs to one task belongs to that task and shouldn't be used for some
other purpose. Dick Swiveller (from Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop) is an
entertaining guy as he balances a ruler on his chin, shoots pens at a
target and jokes with the 'Marchioness' during his work hours. But
that's why Dick ended up where he did and never amounted to anything in
his life. Although he was no idiot, he never figured out that work and
time are related.
Integrity
with Resources: Honesty
The church catechism says, 'My duty towards others is to keep my hands
from snitching and stealing.' This is commonly accepted as the
definition of honesty. Of course, we would never dream of taking what
belongs to someone else, and we feel pretty safe as far as this
temptation goes.
But sometimes we hear of bizarre events: a man has lived for sixty
years and has been a respected and successful man. He's thought of as a
gentleman, not just in his social position, but in the sense of being
an honorable man. But when this man is sixty years old, he embezzles
huge amounts of money, apparently for the first time. But people don't
go
down like this the first time.
pg 175
It's the ship with a leak that sinks. A leak in a person's character
might have been there since his childhood, but didn't sink him until he
was in a big enough sea to face a big temptation.
We need to be careful when we handle money. The more we're trusted, the
more careful we need to be. Honest people are careful about even the
minor things, such as giving back the right amount of change.
One thing we need to keep in mind. We shouldn't spend what we don't
have. It may be true that we'll get our allowance at the end of the
month, but we need to wait and not spend it before we actually have it.
Mr. Micawber was right in theory, even if he didn't follow his own
advice, and who would know better than he did? 'If your annual income
is twenty thousand dollars, and your annual expenditure is nineteen
thousand nine hundred sixty dollars, the result is happiness. But if
your annual income is twenty thousand dollars, and your annual
expenditure is twenty thousand dollars and sixty cents, the result is
misery.'
The student who gets credit or borrows from his friends will grow into
a person who is always behind on his bills. That isn't just bad for the
person who supplied him with the goods, but it's bad for him. He
becomes so stressed and worried from the pressure of debts here and
bills there that he has no room for worthwhile thoughts. His loss of
integrity is a leak that sinks his whole character.
Small
Debts
Related to this, we should remember that we have an obligation to pay
back our small debts promptly. Often, we have the money to pay back
those small debts, but the amount seems so trivial that we don't take
the time or trouble to pay them. A serviceman might have sent six
reminders for a two-dollar fee, paying for six postage stamps, but
the client won't bother to send such a small payment. Or,
pg 176
a girl has to be asked seven times to pay a six cent amount. No person
of integrity allows himself to be so negligent. It's a bother and an
annoyance to others, but that's not the worst of it. The beautiful
whole completeness of our character is smudged by small sins of
negligence.
Bargains
There's another kind of failure in integrity that people don't think is
as shameful as debt, even though its effects are just as bad. It's the
kind of bargain-hunting that even sensible people think is okay.
It's caused by false thinking. It starts with the idea that we should
have the best there is at the lowest possible price. This idea leads to
the
offensive, scrambling crowds that we see at sales. People waste a good
amount of time, temper and health running from one store after another
searching for the cheapest and best items. It's a dishonest waste of
time for the salesclerks who work in those stores. And customers end up
paying for that time. And people end up as disappointed as Rosamond
with her purple jar--they
impulsively buy some fancy, useless object that isn't even worth having
once they get home and take a closer look when their judgment is
calmer. That kind of incident could be avoided if we used clear
judgment combined with integrity in what we set out to do.
What we really need isn't the best there at the lowest price. We need
what suits our purpose at the price we can afford and that we know is
fair.
Looking at it from this perspective, it seems a lot simpler. We don't
need to be always running from store to store stressing ourselves and
wearing other people out in our quest for bargains. Instead,
pg 177
every purchase we make will be a simple, straightforward matter.
It will become an issue of integrity when we deal with local clerks, if
they have what we need. If they don't, we're free to look somewhere
else. We might find what we need at a store that's farther away, but
we've escaped from the trap of bargain-hunting.
There's another risk that comes with bargain-hunting. An item isn't
cheap if it's something we don't want. The temptation to buy something
we don't need because it's such a bargain leads to a waste of money
that could have been used for something else, and leads to an
accumulation of 'stuff' that clutters our home. It's good to remember
that the most precious and pleasing thing in a house or room is space. Even a small room is
spacious if it's not cluttered with useless stuff.
Our
Neighbor's Property
Another point of integrity is how we take care of what belongs to our
neighbor. Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves means that we should
be at least as careful when we use something of his as we'd be with our
own things. We all borrow books, either from our friends or from the
library. We need to take care of the books we borrow as if they were
our own treasured possessions. We shouldn't let them get messed up by
laying them on a wet spot on the table. We shouldn't fold the corners
of the pages, or ruin the bindings by using big objects to mark our
place.
When we walk through the park, we need to remember that it's not easy
to keep some areas grassy and green. In such places, we need to be
careful not to walk on the edges of the lawn. And we'll be careful of
school property when we're at school, or college property when we're at
college. These concerns relate to our integrity. If we're careful in
the small things,
pg 178
then we'll be trustworthy in the greater things. When we're trusted
with the property of others, whether it's money or resources, we'll be
careful not to be wasteful, careless or extravagant. Integrity means
that we should take care of whatever property is given to us, and we'll
make the most of it. We won't let ourselves waste even so much as a
glue stick for fun.
Borrowed
Property
The issue of borrowing comes under the same guidelines as taking care
of what belongs to other people. Students borrow all kinds of things
from each other, from pencils to umbrellas. There's such a feeling of
community property and goodwill among them that it's hard to object to
borrowing and loaning things. But, in the name of honesty, just one
thing needs to be said. When we borrow something, we need to return it
promptly and in the same condition it was in when we first borrowed it.
No
matter how close we are to our friends, we're never excused from this
rule. The friend we borrow things from might not even notice when we
don't return them, but every incident where we don't return something
hurts our integrity and makes us less of a complete person.
We've seen that the work we do, how we spend our time and the things
that we use are all areas where we need to be fair and honest. There
might be lots of times when we get away with being unjust in these
matters because nobody notices, but every lapse damages our character.
We have less integrity after each incident than we did before. The
habit of letting ourselves commit minor incidents of dishonesty by
wasting time, doing sloppy work, or being careless with other people's
things can pave the way for ruin later in life. But we don't need to
live in worry about ruin. Integrity is an inborn part of each of us. We
only need to listen to it and do what it asks.
pg 179
Chapter
18 - Opinions: Justice In Thought
Three
Kinds of 'Opinions'
When we say, 'I think tomorrow's going to be a nice day!' we're
expressing an opinion. When we say, 'Mr. Jones is great, you should
hear what he has to say about Xenophon's book Anabasis,' we're also expressing an
opinion, even though we didn't qualify it with the words, 'I think.' Even if we say, 'Let's
walk to Purley Woods,' we mean that we think it would be fun to walk
there. No matter how hard we try, we can't help thinking. And the
thoughts we have about people and things are our opinions. People often say, 'I
think,' when they mean, 'I wish.' Having actual opinions about things
like the weather means that we've made a judgment call from weather
signs, and not everyone knows enough to read the signs. If we want an
educated opinion about the weather, we'll ask someone who's had to
learn to read the signs, such as a farmer or sailor or weatherman.
When we say, 'Mr. Jones is great,' it might mean that we've heard his
lectures at the university and that we liked him. If that's the case,
then our opinion is worth having. But sometimes we've only heard other
people in our circle mention Mr. Jones. Everyone else is saying good
things about him
pg 180
and we join in. That kind of opinion is worthless. We'd change our tune
if some disgruntled student said something critical about Mr. Jones,
like, 'He wears such weird ties!' A person who lives by opinions he
picks up from others isn't considering how important the opinions are
that he's holding onto. Mr. Jones' ties and Mr. Jones' lectures are all
the same to him, and his estimation of poor Mr. Jones rises or falls
based on the most recent thing he's heard about him.
If Mindy says, 'Let's go to Purley Woods,' her opinion isn't insincere.
She remembers seeing primroses there before, and her pleasant memories
influence her thoughts. We get a very real, honest opinion from someone
who wants something--but that's not a reliable opinion because our
personal desires tend to drown out our judgment so that we rush forward
after what we want. This is what happens with youths who fall into bad
ways. Their opinions are regulated by their personal wishes. They only
believe what they want to believe.
An
Opinion Worth Having
We can infer three rules, then, about opinions that are worth having.
First, we need to think about the subject and have some knowledge about
it, like a farmer does about the weather. Second, it needs to be our opinion, not something we pick
up from hearing what others are saying. And, third, we need to be
unbiased and not let our personal wishes influence the opinions we have
about things.
But you might wonder why we should have opinions at all if they take so
much trouble. The answer is that we can't help having opinions because
we're human. Every person has lots of opinions, and the opinions he
holds are either his own honestly thought out views, or else something
that
he gathered from his favorite news source or best friend. The person
who honestly thinks out his
pg 181
opinions for himself is doing his duty as much as if he saved a life.
All duties are important--there aren't some that are more important
than others. It's a major part of our work in life to do what's right
in thinking through our opinions carefully.
Opinions
on Trial
As you know, we all have a guide inside us. It's our conscience, and
we'll speak about that more later. Once we get into the habit of
bringing our thoughts before him, we'll be able to tell the difference
between a right or wrong opinion before we even tell someone else about
it.
Fads
You might think that making such a big deal about how we form opinions
is just a current trend in thinking, and people who always latch onto
the latest thing are annoying. You might even say, 'I hate people with
radical new ideas, they never leave you alone.' It's true, people who
are always zealous about the newest craze can be tedious. There are two
reasons for this. First, people caught up in the latest new idea can be
too focused on that one thing and have a one-track mind so that they
don't bother to form opinions about other equally important issues.
And, second, they usually latch onto the novelty without doing their
research. Fads can be tiresome, but some people who might seem to be
faddists because of their single-mindedness are really specially called
to bring about some kind of reform.
William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson were obsessed about the issue
of slavery. Samuel Plimsoll was fanatic about unsafe ships. John Howard
was passionate about prison reform. Every great missionary or reformer
has been so focused on one subject that they didn't think about
anything else. Those kinds of people aren't faddists. They don't
habitually take extreme or one-sided views, even though they're
consumed with one issue.
But not very many of us are called to make that kind of sacrifice
pg 182
for reform. The rest of us can't allow ourselves to let a single set of
ideas occupy our whole selves. A faddist is a person who talks and
thinks about one thing. But a reformer does more than talk and think.
He dedicates his life to doing something about it and becomes a
reformer who changes the world.
Things
We Need to Form Opinions About
All of us need to come to an opinion about our country, other
countries, careers, entertainment, books we've read, what we hear,
people we meet, illustrations we've seen, and characters we've read
about in history or fiction. Nothing that enters our minds is exempt
from our obligation to form fair and sensible opinions about it. To
prepare us to do this, we need to spend the years while we're young
getting
the knowledge that will help us to think. Even when we're grown up, we
still need to spend time getting knowledge. Unfortunately, not many
adults have most of their day free to learn and study like they did
when they were in school. Young people have this opportunity, but too
often, they're focused on cramming to pass exams and don't take
advantage of the opportunity to really learn. The lectures we hear and
books we read only benefit us if they make us think.
When Numa
was approached about ruling Rome, he had already given the idea some
thought. He said that he didn't have any special skills or noble
ancestry that would make him suited to rule. But the Romans had their
own thoughts and opinions. They asked him to consider taking the
position as ruler to save his country from being ruled incompetently.
That was a thought that hadn't
pg 183
occurred to Numa. There were undoubtedly selfish people who only wanted
to rule Rome for their own benefit. The opinion of the Romans was
reasonable, so Numa considered it, and decided to accept the position.
This is a good example of how opinions should influence the decisions
we make. We need to think about things--everything--for ourselves. We
need to think about what the responsibilities should be for a judge, or
a general, or a king, or a minister. Then, if we're ever called on
unexpectedly to take on one of those jobs, we'll know what to say.
Of course, if we were called on, we'd probably do what Numa did at
first--protest that we didn't have the experience or education to
qualify us for such a position. We probably don't think we'd ever be
asked! But it's still a good idea to recognize what other people do,
and what kinds of things they have to think about. By learning what it
would have been like to travel to Tibet with Colonel Younghusband, or
defend Port Arthur with General Stoessel, we develop opinions worth
having about war, patriotism, the obligations of public workers, and
lots of other matters. More than that, we should make an effort to
understand the responsibilities and purposes of parents, teachers, and
anyone in authority over us. Then, when we give our opinion about their
actions, it's more likely to be fair. [We
might have a different opinion about what clerks ought to do for us,
for example, after we know what it's like to be a clerk!]
As far as preachers and their sermons, it's the same as with anything
else. Only people who care about religion and think about it have the
right to give their opinion.
Opinions
about Books
In the same way, we have to be fair in the way we evaluate books.
Trashy books aren't even worth the effort to think about, so we have no
business reading them. But a book that's worth our time,
whether it's a story or a
pg 184
commentary, contains the best thoughts of the person who wrote it. We
can only understand what he's trying to say by thinking seriously as we
read.
The fact is, the books that make us think, and the poems that make us
wonder, and the lives of men that make us pause for reflection, are
more useful to us than whole libraries of good advice. Sometimes we
read what are considered 'good moral books.' We read and think how good
they
are, and how good it is of us to read them. But it doesn't stick with
us
because the writer has spelled the lessons out so plainly that we
haven't had to work to figure them out for ourselves. It seems to be a
rule of life that we don't really own anything that we don't work for.
This is especially true of the mind. What comes too easily, goes just
as easily. That's why Jesus didn't speak to the people without using
Parables. He told the people stories that, for some, would pass
casually through their minds as something entertaining for the moment.
But for others, they could reflect on them, form opinions about them,
and use them as a guide to learn the meaning of their lives.
The opinions you have right now about books and other things are
probably wrong. You'll find yourself correcting and refining them when
you've read more, thought more, and know more. In fact, no wise person,
no matter how old he gets, is ever totally sure that his opinions are
true. He's faithful to them, but humble about whether he's right. He
should be like Numa, who was convinced that everybody else's opinion
was probably more logical than his own. He's not afraid or ashamed to
change his mind if he finds out he was wrong. One wise and witty man
said, 'None of us are infallible, no matter how young!' He knew how
arrogant youths can be, adopting opinions second-hand and then sticking
to them stubbornly. The very word 'opinion' means 'a thinking.' It
assumes that we've
pg 185
given the issue some thought with modesty and hesitation, and that it's
not something
we're absolutely sure about.
Our
Duty Regarding Opinions
Now we begin to understand what our duty is when it comes to our
opinions. First, we have to have 'a thinking' about lots of different
things. Therefore, we need to read, pay attention, learn, and inwardly
assimilate. We need to listen and mull things over in our mind because
we know that one of our purposes in life is to form the correct opinion
about whatever issue we come in contact with.
Next, we need to avoid short cuts when it comes to forming opinions. We
can't pick up our opinions already pre-packaged for us at the corner
market. And the next thing is the hardest, and something that can take
our whole lives. We need to learn to recognize a fallacy. A fallacy is an argument
that sounds good, but isn't plausible when we really analyze it. For
example, there's a truth to the statement that 'we're all born equal.'
We're equal as far as having the same rights to clean air, to enjoy the
beauty of the earth and sky, and to the protection of our country's
laws, and lots of other things. But some people try to twist this
phrase to mean that everyone should have an equal share of the property
in the world. That's absurd. The very word property means ownership. The owner
is the one who owns it. Our very nature attests to this: we're
indignant at even a cuckoo who takes over the nest of another bird. But
the issue of fallacies is complicated. For now, the only thing we need
to remember is that popular rallying cries, whether it's in the school
or nation, tend to rest on fallacies or false judgments. So we all need
to carefully analyze the notions we take on.
Next, before we form a final opinion about anyone in a position of
authority or importance, we need to try to recognize their job they
have to do and everything that relates to it.
pg 186
One last thing. When we settle on an opinion, we need to remember that
an opinion is only 'a thinking.' We need to hold it loosely, knowing
that we might change our mind. Still, because we arrived at that
opinion to the best of our ability through our own pondering, we need
to stick to it unless, like Numa, we become convinced that another view
is more right than ours.
We can't be lazy in the area of our opinions. The most important part
of Justice is thinking fair thoughts about the matters around us. The
best and wisest people are the ones who have spent time thinking about
many different topics and learned to think fair, unbiased
thoughts about all of them. It's nice to know that the lord of the
heart named Justice is always ready to weigh the opinions that we let
ourselves have.
pg 187
Chapter
19 - Principles: Justice In Our Motives
Principles,
Bad and Good
There's one class of opinions that we need to be especially careful
with. Sometimes we pick them up from other people, and sometimes we
come up with them all by ourselves. But, no matter how we get them, we
make them our own because everything we do is based on them. These
kinds of
opinions determine the way we behave. They're called Principles, which
comes from the word princeps,
which means 'the first.' These have first priority and top importance
of all our opinions. We sometimes say that a certain boy is
well-principled, or a certain person is a man of principle, or a young
lady has high principles, but, the truth is, everybody has principles. In other
words, everybody has a few main leading opinions on which they base
everything they do. A student who is always late for class, snitches
his Latin translation from the internet, ducks out of work, and cheats
at games may not realize it, but he's acting on principle. He may not
even have put his principles into words, but if we were to try to sum
them up, we might come up with something like this: 'What's the use of
doing any more than you need to?' 'Why should I rush? I'm not going to
stress myself by hurrying!' 'It's a waste of time, I'll never need to
speak Latin anyway.' These are the kinds of principles that his life
and actions are based on. He's allowed himself to think the way that
lazy and
pg 188
careless people think, and it's become a habit that he can't stop.
People might say that he's unprincipled, but I don't think there's any
such thing as an unprincipled person. Such a person isn't unprincipled,
he's a person who has deliberately chosen bad principles to base his
conduct on.
Meanwhile, another child is always on time, quick, and careful about
his work. He hardly knows why himself. But what has happened is that,
little by little, he has collected certain principles, and he can't
help acting on them. He remembers that he's obligated to his parents
and teachers to work, and that he ought
to do his obligations, because that's the right thing to do. In the
same way, he recognizes that knowledge is enjoyable, and that it's up
to him to get all of it he can while he's young and has the
opportunity. He also realizes that the kind of worker he'll be as an
adult depends on what kind of work he does now, and even his schoolwork
is helping him become the grown-up he'll be later. Maybe he heard
someone say these things at home or in school, or maybe he thought of
them himself, he might not even remember. At any rate, he's made them
the most important thing--his principles. What he does is always based
on them. Both of these students are ruled by their principles. To find
where the difference is between them, we'd have to go back to their
choice of principles. Choosing one's principles is a very important
part of life.
How
to Tell Good Principles From Bad Ones
A traveler who arrives in a foreign airport is both amused and annoyed
by the number of porters clamoring for his luggage, and taxi drivers
offering to drive him to his hotel. In a similar way, many different
principles are forced on us, clamoring for our consideration and
jockeying for our attention in the books and papers we read, people we
talk to, pictures we look at, and TV we watch.
We can tell the difference right from the beginning. Good principles
are offered to us in an unpretentious, low-key way,
pg 189
with very little pressure or urging. Bad principles are loud and
urgent. They drown out the voice of our conscience with their
continuous noisy chatter, inviting us to go the way we're most
inclined, and suggesting that we do the things that look like the most
fun.
Our
Principles are Written Large and Clearly
It's interesting that, although a person may never stop to articulate
what his principles are, they have their own way of being discovered. A
person's rules of conduct are written in large letters right on the
expression on his face for anyone to see. It's a good thing to
remember. Even though we may enjoy the company of a person who's lazy,
self-indulgent, envious, hateful, dishonest, cruel, or greedy, we can
see it in his eyes and mouth. We may like him, but differently. When
we're with him, we're on guard against his particular bad principle. We
may laugh at his jokes and enjoy his wit, but we don't trust him too
much or let him influence us in our own choice of rules of conduct.
You might wonder, 'But what are
my principles? And how would I find out?' Actually, you don't need to
worry too much about finding out. In this case, people around us can
see more about us than we can. In fact, some of the youngest children
we know have a better idea of what our principles are than we do
ourselves. What we need to do is to pay attention. We need to ask
ourselves questions from time to time, such as, Why am I always
following Joe around? Is it because he flatters me? Does he put
false ideas of daring into my head, or tempting suggestions for wrong
kinds of fun? If so, then we have a problem with our principles because
we've picked a friend who brings out the worst in us. What about Brent?
Do we keep him as a friend because he's an honest guy who's never
afraid to tell us the truth, even when he thinks we're acting foolish
or lazy? If so, then that's great! Do we join in when everybody else is
calling Sidney a cheater, or a nerd or a show-off after he wins honors
pg 190
for his schoolwork? If so, then we'd better be careful. Envy is the
principle that's determined that nobody's going to be better than us.
We collect our principles without even being aware of it, but they are
our masters. We need to catch one of them every once in a while,
scrutinize it, and ask ourselves how it affects what we do.
pg 191
Chapter
20 - Justice To Ourselves: Self-Control
My
Duty to Myself
We know that it's our duty to be fair and just to 'our neighbor,' which
means everyone at our own socio-economic level, and everyone below it,
and everyone above it. It includes our family members, people who serve
us, people we hire or buy things from, all of our friends and
relatives, and everyone from those closest to us to those at
the farthest ends of the world.
There's just one more person we need to show justice to. Many lives are
wasted because this person isn't treated fairly. Who is the one friend
we tend to neglect when we're trying to be just? It's our own selves! The
Anglican Catechism says that I owe it to my neighbor to be
moderate, sober, and pure. Part of the reason is so that we don't hurt
or offend others. But it's also because we owe that to our closest
neighbor--our very own self.
Some people accomplish great things for the world. They save lives,
write books, build hospitals. But the person who manages his body with
self-control is also doing a wonderful service for the world. For one
thing, the good person who keeps his body
pg 192
under control, sober, and pure helps to make the world more
beautiful just by being there. Also, both good and evil are contagious.
One immoral student in a school will cause other students to think
about and talk about things they shouldn't even entertain in their
minds. In the same way, one honorable student who won't have anything
to do with that kind of talk, and refuses to listen to it or even allow
it, helps to make his whole school a better place. Not many things are
more tragic than a beautiful body that was made in God's image to be
healthy, strong and happy, damaged and ruined through bad habits.
Moderation
Avoids Anything in Excess
Of the three rules that should help us keep our bodies under control,
moderation, or temperance, is the least understood by youths. It might
make us think of Burne-Jones' s painting of Temperanti
pouring pure water out of her pitcher to douse the flames, or
temperance laws from the days of prohibition. It makes us think that
temperance is related to not drinking alcohol. But that's only one kind
of temperance. A boy who is greedy, or a girl who is lazy, is not
temperate. You can tell just by watching them walk down the sidewalk.
They don't have that bounce in their walk or alert look that moderate
people have.
People can even be immoderate when it comes to restlessness. Or they
might be obsessed with games, cramming for a test, reading novels,
playing poker, or any other kind of absorbing interest. Any excess is
intemperance. It means that the person has lost control of himself to
the point that he can't resist doing or having something, no matter
what he has to sacrifice or how much it puts someone else out. Once
we're aware of how dangerous it can be to lose control, even over
innocent things that are harmless in themselves, we'll be able to watch
ourselves. We
pg 193
won't go on to have a fifth donut, we'll make sure we get up on time,
we'll wake ourselves up with some cold water and a brisk walk, we'll do
some exercises with weights or stretches in our room. We'll be ashamed
to find ourselves getting flabby instead of trim, and we'll deal with
it by doing more exercise instead of sitting around on the couch. We'll
be careful not to have second or third helpings of something because we
like the taste. Actually, that's a good rule to live by. If one serving
of leftover hash will satisfy our hunger, then that means that one
serving of lasagna should also be enough for us. We don't want to
become overweight, because a fat, sluggish body can make us slow-witted
and dull in thought. We can be moderate without going on a narrow diet
(we don't need to live on things like apples and nuts). In fact,
moderation might best be practiced by eating a moderate portion of
whatever food is set in front of us, no matter how deliciously tempting
it is.
Soberness
Does not Look For Excitement
Soberness, because of the word it's derived from, means, first of all,
not being drunk. It's never been easier than it is these days for
youths to remain sober by never even tasting alcohol, because so many
good, thoughtful people of importance and society drink water instead
of wine.
In ancient Greece, great men used to give alcoholic drinks to their
slaves so that their children could see how foolish and disgusting a
drunk person becomes. They did this so that their children would grow
up thinking of drunkenness as a repulsive sin of lowly slaves. As
Christians, it isn't right to offend others by making
pg 194
them sin. But we don't need to make anyone drunk because the world is
already too full of examples of drunkenness. Even children who live in
the suburbs are exposed to the ugliness of alcoholism, and they wonder
about it. How can Jervis, who's so nice when he's sober, keep drinking
until he's so drunk that he falls by the side of the road, and makes
such a
disgusting spectacle of himself? This is something worth wondering
about, because the answer affects the whole history of alcoholism--and,
in fact, every sin that enslaves people.
Self-Indulgence
Leads to Corruption
People start drinking for the same reasons that children go to the
candy store. They want to indulge in something pleasant, and they think
there's no harm in a glass of wine or a beer. But 'no harm' is a
dangerous way of thinking. It sets people on a wide path where there's
lots of cheerful company and the way seems so pleasant because the path
is so easy to follow. In fact, it's downhill all the way. This is the
path of self-indulgence. When we have to justify something we're doing
by saying 'there's no harm in it,' then we're probably headed in that
direction. The only way to get back on the right path is to struggle
uphill to the path of duty. A person who stays on the easy path going
downhill, enjoying the songs and jokes of his fellow-travelers and
taking the path of least resistance, will end up at a cross-road where
his friends will leave him and go their separate ways.
The
Parting of the Ways
At this point, his friends lose all their cheerfulness. They hurry away
on one road or another urgently, as if it was a life or death matter.
And so it is. Except that they're headed for death, not life.
The path they're taking is gradually harming and killing the beautiful,
remarkable body that God gave
pg 195
to every person. They're muddying and weakening the wonderful brain
that's supposed to be used for thinking and knowing, loving and
praying. Even the greatest guitarist in the world can't get any more
than warped, broken sounds from a guitar whose strings are worn out and
damaged. In the same way, no matter how brilliant a person might be, if
he lets himself take the easy path down one of the four crossroads of
corruption, his destructive habits will consume all of the promise and
ability of his genius. A person can't do any worthwhile thinking or do
anything of value if his mind isn't well.
An
Alcoholic's Fate
The first path from the crossroad leads to alcoholism. People start
down this path
when they pass the stage of self-indulgence. In other words, they don't
drink anymore because they enjoy it. They drink because they have to.
That's the tragic price that a person pays for self-indulgence. They're
plagued with a craving that few can resist. Nothing seems to help--not
their own conscience, the help of their friends, not even their faint
and feeble prayers. The poor wretch is so miserable that he drinks. For
a moment, the alcohol stimulates him and makes him feel better. It
causes a quick rush of blood to the brain so that he can think clearly
and life seems more pleasant. But, unfortunately, there's a period of
depression right after that. The person can't think, and can't feel
anything. He feels sorry for himself and gets weepy, his life feels
like an unbearable burden--so he rushes back to the poison of alcohol
for relief. He says that he has
to drink, that it's not humanly possible to resist the overwhelming
craving that consumes him.
Alcohol takes away his health, his money, his relationships, his job.
His mind and body are a wreck. People wonder how he can live that
way--if you'd
pg 196
call an existence of crawling around in hidden places any kind of life.
Is this any way for that person to show appreciation to God for the
wonderful gifts of their body and mind? Is it fair to his family and
friends to make himself a burden and an offense to them? Is it fair to
himself? His wonderful, beautiful self with all the things his heart,
mind and soul can do, are his responsibility to make the most of.
What would you think of a man who received a laptop computer as a
birthday present, and then opened it up and poured acid all over it?
You'd say he was an idiot or a mental case to destroy something so
expensive that took so many intricate parts and labor to put together.
Well then, what about a person who destroys the even more wonderful
mechanism of his brain and body that are all he has to think, live and
feel?
The most merciful thing seems to be to lock up these kinds of offenders
in an asylum with the other lunatics. But God doesn't excuse us so
easily from the responsibility of choosing between right and wrong. We
can't escape that responsibility, even if we always make the wrong
choice and offend God, ourselves and our neighbor again and again.
The
Honor System
That's why it's so important that we maintain control of our bodies.
Since we have the freedom to do the wrong thing when we feel like it,
we have to be even more careful to choose to do the right thing. The
French have a nice-sounding phrase that we English use regarding
prisoners of war. The prisoner is allowed to have quite a bit of
freedom 'en parole,' meaning on his word of honor that he won't try to
escape. In both France and England, and others places, too, the word of
a gentleman is so binding
pg 197
that a prisoner who might be smart enough to break out of the most
strongly guarded prison, can't escape from the honor of his own
promise. He can be trusted to walk around the streets, go here and
there, do whatever he wants, because there's an invisible wall
confining him that he can't break through. The wall is nothing more
than his word. He is en parole.
This is the way God treats us when it comes to indulging ourselves. We
are quite free to go down the broad road of destruction, but our own
word en parole stops us. We
might not have ever said so out loud, but we're speaking figuratively
about the word within us. It means 'on our honor.' We're all on the
honor system to keep ourselves from ruin, no matter how easy or fun it
might seem to make wrong choices.
The problem is that so many youths go down the broad road of
destruction and never even realize they're on it. They never stop to
look around and think about where they are. Instead they say, 'It
doesn't matter,' about this little pleasure or that kind of fun, and,
before they know it, they have lost their honor.
Excitement
Alcohol isn't the only thing that intoxicates us. Anything that
produces an unnatural rush of blood to the brain is a kind of
intoxication. As soon as the blood flow returns to normal, the brain
will feel drained and depressed. This kind of intoxication is called excitement. There's no harm in it
from time to time, but some people start to crave excitement every day,
or even every hour. They might even mope and be unpleasant if things
aren't happening. They crave excitement for the same reasons that a
drunkard craves alcohol. And, in a similar way, the more they have, the
more they want.
pg 198
They don't enjoy time with their friends unless there's a lot of wild
talking and laughing. They always want to be with people who will 'make
them laugh,' no matter how coarse the jokes are. They're unsettled if
they can't go to every fun party within reach. No games are exciting
enough unless they're risky games of chance. In the end, this can lead
to a habit of gambling, which can be just as destructive and disgusting
as alcoholism.
Anyone who wants to stay sober-minded needs to avoid all these kinds of
excesses. I don't mean that one should never get excited, because
anything that pleases us or upsets us will excite us. But that's not
the same as going after
excitement and being discontent if something exciting isn't happening
all the time.
Circe
Regarding Gluttony (Circe is
pronounced SIR-see)
The other three of the four paths that come off of the crossroad lead
to Gluttony, Laziness and Impurity. People who go against their word of
honor regarding their physical bodies end up on any one of those paths.
Some people hover around the crossroads, first going down one path,
then another. But others, namely, the drunken alcoholic, the greedy
overeater, the deadbeat couch potato, and the promiscuous person, find
their favorite path and stick to it. They allow their entire body and
soul to be given over to one lustful passion.
In the Odyssey, the enchantress Circe turned Ulysses' sturdy seamen
into pigs. I can't say it any better than Nathaniel Hawthorne did in
Tanglewood Tales. If you remember, Circe met the wandering seamen who
were drawn to her palace with the sounds of pleasant singing. The
beautiful enchantress came to them, smiled and stretched out her hand,
bidding the whole group welcome. 'You see,'
pg 199
she said, 'I already know all about your troubles. Be assured that I
want to make you happy for as long as you stay with me. Fish, poultry,
beef, roasted and in delicious stews and spiced just the way I think
you like it, are all ready for you to eat. If you're hungry for dinner,
then come with me to the festive dining hall.' When they heard this
kind invitation, the hungry seamen were overjoyed. One of them let
their kind hostess know that they were ready to eat at any time of day.
They entered a magnificent dining hall. Each of the men was invited to
sit down. There they were, sitting on twenty two cushioned chairs with
canopies draping the tops. You could see the men nodding and smiling
and winking at each other to express their pleasure. One whispered,
'Our kind hostess is treating us like kings!' Another asked, 'Do you
smell that wonderful feast?' Another said, 'I hope it'll be thick
steaks, sirloin, and spare ribs and roast, nothing fancy. If I thought
it wouldn't be rude, I'd ask the lady for some bacon to start with!'
But the beautiful enchantress clapped her hands, and immediately twenty
two servers came in bringing dishes of the richest food, all hot off
the grills and oven. It sent up such a cloud of steam that it hung like
a cloud near the top of the domed ceiling of the dining hall. Twenty
two more attendants brought bottles of various wines. It sparkled as it
was poured out, and it went bubbling down the men's throats. They found
nothing lacking
pg 200
with the food and stayed at the table for a long, long time. It was
shameful the way they guzzled the liquor and wolfed down the food. They
might have been sitting on thrones worthy of kings, but they acted no
better than pigs in the sty. I'm embarrassed to even imagine the
mountains of meat and sausage and how many gallons of wine those twenty
two gluttons consumed. In their greed, they forgot all about the
families they were going home to. The only thing on their minds was
this banquet. They wished it could go on forever. But finally they
began to slow down, they simply couldn't hold any more.
They all stopped eating and leaned back on their chairs with such
stupid, helpless faces that they looked ridiculous. When their hostess
saw this, she laughed, and so did her four ladies in waiting and the
twenty two men who carried the dishes and the twenty two waiters who
poured the wine. 'You wretches!' cried the enchantress. 'You have
abused your hostess's hospitality. You may be in a princely dining
hall, but your behavior is more suited to a hog-pen. You're already
swine on the inside, now take the outer form of swine! Assume your
proper form, gluttons, and then go to the pig sty where you belong!'
After those last words, she waved her wand and stamped her foot with
authority. Each of the men was horrified to see his comrades change
shape until all twenty two seats had pigs sitting on the beautiful
cushions. They felt so absurd sitting on those chairs that they rushed
off and began to wallow on all fours like other pigs. They tried to
groan and beg for mercy, but the only sound that came from their mouths
was the most awful grunting and squealing. Their ears were pointed and
floppy,
pg 201
their eyes were little and red, and almost buried in fat! And instead
of Grecian noses, they had long pig snouts.
Interests
in Life
If we want to do what's fair and right for 'ourselves' by being
moderate, sober, and pure, we need to start with our thoughts. This is
one area where we can be real heroes, even if nobody else knows about
it. It's true for all of us that
'I have a responsibility,
And a God to glorify.'
And that's a great reason to be careful what we think about! People say
that if you take care of the small things, the big things will take
care of themselves. But it's even more true that if we take care of our
thoughts, the actions will take care of themselves.
If we want to stay moderate and sober, we need to work, read, and
think. Even more than that, we need to be thankful. There isn't a
person in the world whose life wouldn't be exciting if he lived it to
the full. The person whose life is full of interests doesn't need to
seek
excitement from alcohol or other bad habits.
A person who has interests spreads those interests to everyone around
him. A boy who starts collecting postcards will start a trend with his
friends. That's the way it is with every interest in life--poetry,
history, or anything in nature.
If you're interested in lots of things and you share your interests
with others, you'll be less likely to desire the kind of excitement
that leads to drunkenness. Interests will also keep us safe from
degrading gluttony. A child who gazes at his brother's plate and longs
for it because it looks better than his own, is a child who doesn't
have anything better to think about.
pg 202
Laziness
A person with interests isn't a sluggard. Hockey, tennis, baseball,
long walks, football, boating, skating--all of these activities help to
give him a strong body that isn't content to lie around all day. No one
should be like 'the fat boy' in Pickwick,
or any other book, for that
matter. When a person gets fat, it isn't always from eating too much,
although that may have something to do with it. It's usually that they
don't get enough exercise, so their bodies turn to fat instead of
muscle. Young men in college or in boarding schools don't let
themselves get fat. It just wouldn't be acceptable. If we find weight
creeping up on us, then we need to ask ourselves if we're getting lazy.
Laziness is a bad habit that's not worth ruining a life over.
Impurity
The last of the four paths is the worst of all. It leads to the deadly
sin of immorality. This is also a sin that's committed in our thoughts.
As soon as we've thought the thought, we've committed the offense. We
know how dangerous it is to allow ourselves to listen to people with
filthy minds, or to allow ourselves to create mental images of things
we read about. We can't avoid having things come across our path that
can lead to unclean imagination. If we could totally avoid those
things, then there wouldn't be any battle to fight. We wouldn't be able
to obey the command to 'glorify God with your bodies.' Each of us needs
to develop the ability to close the curtains and not allow our
imagination to create a picture of unclean things. Once Imagination
begins to act like a peeping Tom, it becomes a difficult battle to keep
impure thoughts out of our minds. God, our Lord and Master, tells us to
'Watch and pray so that you don't enter into temptation.' That means
that we need to examine the
pg 203
thoughts that we allow to enter our minds and shut the door on
intruders so they aren't allowed to come in. Pray every day and every
night with the kind of confidence that a child has when he talks to his
father, praying, 'Our Father, who art in heaven, lead us not into
temptation.' And then, don't give the matter another thought. Instead,
do your best to live the wonderful, full life of body, mind, heart and
soul that God has provided for.
Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.
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