Tuesday, June 17, 2003

The opening text will come from a book by Abraham Joshua Heschel (God in Search of Man - A Philosophy of Judaism). As you are able to see by the title, the language may be a bit dated and therefore, I will, when able, make the language inclusive.



Our sense of what is right and wrong may at times be uncertain. What is indubitably certain is our sense of obligation to answer for our conduct. A unique feature of the conscience is that, unlike reason, its main awareness does not lie in conceiving something but in being related to, in being accountable, in being judged as well as in judging. Accountability means to be accountable to someone. Who is that someone? That someone cannot be an abstract law or a blind force; in violating a physical law we never feel any guilt. Nor can it be our own self; the essential admission of the soul is that the self is not its final authority. We have not the power to forgive ourselves the wrongs we have committed. We are open and communicative to someone who transcends us and is concerned with our life.



Picking up from yesterday, the importance of trusting a God who is concerned about us places us within a relationship. The relationship carries demands. The demands have to do with the way we live our lives. It is like, for example, a parent who tells a child, “This is how we act.” From that point on, there is the expectation that life within that family will follow such guidelines as we walk through our life. When we go outside those guidelines, we begin to experience the notion of right or wrong and then direct our lives to be in dialogue with those guidelines and those who claim to live by them. We become accountable. It is common when speaking about ethics that we ask ourselves, how would we act if no one was around? What becomes for us a guide…a rule…a standard? Also, what kind of dialogue is followed within a community that holds common guidelines and expectations? In such a dialogical body, the rights and wrongs can take on a community feel in which they can be changed in time and adjusted. Within our personal life, the expectations of God’s Reign become the character shaping influence among us. Most often, these are spelled out in broad categories that influence our specific actions.



Connection: When you hear that voice that tries to say what is right or wrong, can you tell where it originates? When you speak the words of right or wrong can you tell where that voice enters your life? There may be many fronts to those voices.



Lord God, speak to us of the grand design of your reign. Remind us of the vision for life that truly brings life to us in the midst of all the ways people move through this day. Amen.