Right Versus Easy

“We must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.”

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Movie Adaption) – Dumbledore

                One of the great misconceptions of our time is that we attribute morality to religion and neglect to review secular morality.  While a wealth of moral philosophy and teaching is found in the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, and other religious texts, we also pass down morality through old episodes of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Dr. Seuss books, numerous comic books, and, yes, even the Harry Potter franchise.  Today I wanted to focus on this particular quote, while Luke 9:23 also discusses this concept, I believe the quote from Harry Potter puts it in easily understood terms that even Non-Christians can relate to.

                Radical religious groups tend to view people as inherently evil and that people sin because of the glamor of it. This reminds me of watching the Captain Planet t.v. show as a child.  The polluters on the show seemed to enjoy polluting for the sake of polluting, not because it was easier than recycling or saved their company money.  There are the great evils, the men and women you see on the evening news who commit atrocities without regard for human life, but that does not account for the vast majority of wrongs in this world.  We view sin and wrongdoing as attributes of a person: greedy, lustful, and/or violent, but how many times when we do the wrong thing it is simply because it makes life easier in the short-run?

                Sometimes doing the right thing is easy, those moments are gifts and we should be glad when the choices and the actions are natural, easy.  Unfortunately, there are many times when doing the right thing isn’t easy.  Helping a person in need is a prime example- it sounds like a no-brainer.  What if you’re running late and stopping to help someone could mean missing an important obligation?  Imagine you witness someone doing something wrong in your place of employment.  What if standing up against the wrong thing will cost you your job?  What if your friend or family member becomes a bully, will you be ready to risk your relationship with that person to stand up against bullying?

In this economy risking your job for the right thing is never an easy choice

                There are no easy answers to these questions, only a call to examine why we fail to do the right thing at times.  Often right and wrong are not black and white, but when they are, people fail to do the right thing because the wrong path is more convenient.  Nurses don’t choose their profession because the hours are short and the working conditions cushy- they work long hours and endure stress because they are called to help others.  People don’t recycle because it’s easier than throwing everything into one garbage bag – they do it because they want to reduce their impact on the environment.  

                Morality is pervasive in our cultural teachings, but it lags behind in practice.  It is not because we are inherently evil, Godless creatures; it is because we are a culture of convenience, of quick resolutions and instant gratification.  We tend to rationalize the times we make the wrong choices.  So what do we do? We do our best, and we do what is in our capacity to make this world a better place.  We do the hard work and we show courage in times of adversity.  We humans are imperfect creatures, but that does not mean that we lack the ability and the resolve to make this world better, to stand for the right thing.  

The right thing isn't always easy, but there will always be those who face the challenges, the hard work, and the repercussions of standing up for what is right.  

The Not-So Prodigal Son

Even if you’re not a Christian, the parable of the Prodigal son is one you have probably heard.  The story is often used as an example of God’s forgiveness, alluding to our own return from sin.  It’s beautiful, right?  But let’s stop a moment and review the fact that there were two sons in the story.  The younger son, seeing his father as the first bank of dad, takes his inheritance, blows it on the biblical equivalent of strip clubs and keggers, and then comes crawling back to his father once the cash has run dry.  Meanwhile, the not-so-prodigal son is working hard and keeping out of trouble.  Dear readers, if you’re like me surely you’ve stopped at some point and realized… the older brother got hosed.

Where was his fatted calf?  Where was his party and warm welcome after a tiring round of debauchery?  The other brother calls his father out on the double standard, to which the father replies that his son has returned from the dead.  Gee thanks, that helps a whole lot Dad.  If you have a sibling at some point you have probably related to one or both of the brothers. For anyone who has dedicated their life to abiding God’s will on the Earth and done his or her best to be as clean-living as possible, this particular parable can feel a little bit like a slap in the face.

I have mulled over this particular parable for years.  I believe to truly benefit from any religious text you have to be challenged by it from time to time.  Spirituality isn’t about blind devotion and pretty words that make us feel good, it’s about being challenged to really examine your life, your beliefs, and be constantly compelled to improve.  After years of ruminating over this particular parable I have come to a new revelation about the non-prodigal son.  What we don’t always stop and see are the benefits bestowed upon the brother who didn’t run away.  

“My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” Luke 15:31

The younger brother gives in to the temptation of earthly desires.  We’re not sure everything he must have done in his time away, but had rap existed in the time of Jesus, there probably would have been a song about chilling in the club with the younger brother.  While the son is finally compelled to come home due to poverty after squandering his inheritance, there were a lot of empty nights and pursuits of fleeting sources of happiness.  

The older brother has spent the same time with his family, doing an honest day’s work, and having a place to call home.  His life isn’t very glamorous or exciting, but he is continuously surrounded by love and security.  He has spent the entire time being able to enjoy his father’s company and be with people who truly care about him.  If you measure the story of the prodigal son by material goods the younger brother seems to get the better deal, but if you measure the story by the things that matter most, the older brother was always ahead.

Humanity’s relationship with earthly goods is a point of reflection in Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Baha’i, and other religions and philosophies throughout the ages.  It is a basic human truth that we are tempted by things such as wealth and material comfort.  It is also a basic human truth that we all find our truest happiness in loving and meaningful relationships.  The one thing the two brothers in the parable share is that neither one has truly grasped the value of their relationship with their father.  The younger brother values his inheritance and the comfort it can buy and consequently is brought to ruin and despair until he resolves to return home.  The older brother is envious of his brother’s feast, neglecting to see that all this time he has been in the company of a loving father, never wanting for anything.  

It’s easy to take for granted those who love us when we have never experienced being away from them.  Their presence is constant, and we fail to see what a blessing it is.  Likewise, it’s easy for us to take for granted God’s love.  If you’re a lifelong Christian and have never gone through a major lapse in your faith, you take for granted having the faith in a loving and merciful god.  We need not be rewarded for our faith, our faith is our reward. 

The Book of Job

The Book of Job

Job 35:14 “Although you say you do not see Him, yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him.”

Like flowers on a Cactus, beauty sometimes appears in moments of adversity

                As I flip through a Gideon’s Bible in a hotel I gravitate to the book of Job.  Over the course of the last five months I have revisited the story of Job from the bible.  Re-reading the book and searching for a passage to succinctly describe the recent state of perpetual predicaments my husband and I have endured, I realize that the book of Job is, for a large part, a theological dialogue. The bible is filled with stories of righteous men and women tested in their faith including Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac to Jesus’s time in the desert.  However, the book of Job takes the story of a man tested in his faith and drags it out through chapter after chapter of Job and his companions discussing God’s judgment.  

Jokingly I have told my husband “we have proven that we will stand by each other in worse, for poorer, and in sickness, perhaps it’s time we have proven our love for better, for richer, and in health.”  In January my husband was hospitalized with H1N1 and while he was hospitalized they discovered he was diabetic.  At the beginning of April my husband lost his job for excessive absences from his time in the hospital.  Along this road we have had between us one flat tire and one cracked windshield.  Then in early May our apartment was flooded with sewage when a construction crew pushed rocks and debris down an open manhole which obstructed the sewage system.  I think back to a scene from the Simpsons in which Ned Flanders had a turn of misfortune:

Flanders: Reverend Lovejoy, with all that's happened to us today, I kinda feel like Job.

Reverend Lovejoy: Well, aren't you being a tad melodramatic, Ned? Also, I believe Job was right-handed.

When good health, steady employment, and a place to call home are ephemeral we feel the urgency to have God lighten our burdens.  While this year has been difficult, sifting through sewage-soiled items difficult, I must remind myself of the example of those who have carried heavier burdens with more grace than I.  When my husband was in the hospital and I was weary from worry and the work there was to be done (and soon to get sick with H1N1 myself), there was a poster in the hospital that read “With God things are Possible, not Easy.”

                With the challenges that have been laid at my feet this past year, I do not blame God.  God is not malicious or cruel, he does not bring down misfortune upon we unsuspecting mortals.  I believe suffering to be an inherit part of life.  As long as humanity is unkind to one another, as long as humanity is selfish, there will be suffering.  The difficult part of my journey has been finding the patience and the strength to proceed onward through my time of trials to await better days.