Slave, will you not bear with your own brother, who has Zeus for his forefather, and is born as a son of the same seed as you and of the same heavenly descent?
You were appointed to a place of superiority like this, and are you straight away going to constitute yourself a despot?
Will you not remember what you are and whom you are ruling? That they are kinsmen, born your brothers, children of Zeus?
I never cease to be amazed at the many tremendous human achievements in the arts and the sciences, and I stand in awe at the profound insights and grueling efforts they demand. We have written music so beautiful that it can reduce a man to uncontrollable sobbing, and we have unraveled the mysteries of matter such that we can split the atom or travel to another world.
And yet I wonder why we have so much trouble with showing basic understanding and compassion to the people we live with from day to day. Shouldn’t it be relatively simple to fathom, fairly easy to practice?
Now the principles of respect and solidarity are certainly not too subtle or obscure, and it doesn’t seem that any extraordinary skills are required to act with care and concern. What is still standing in the way? Perhaps any complexity and difficulty are not in the deeds themselves, but rather in how poorly we choose to train the habits of our thinking.
If I have neglected a healthy diet and some lively exercise, I will lose my breath from climbing the stairs, or find it a torture to carry in the groceries. My judgements will be no different, for if I have misdirected my attentions by pursuing all the wrong ends, I will struggle mightily to perform even the most mundane of human decencies.
Whatever the time or the place, from going to work to sitting down at a meal, where do I set my priorities? If it is important enough to me, I will do it eagerly, and I will face most any obstacle to achieve it. Everything hinges on my perspective of the greater and the lesser.
When I am looking for money, fame, or pleasure, I see just that, and my mind latches on to the ways I can inflate my ego. I lash out at what offends me, make demands of the world around me, and impose my will on those I consider beneath me. I think big because I want to be big.
When I am, however, only looking to express my fundamental humanity, free from any vainglory, it may look like I am thinking small, though I am really thinking with depth. Then, with a remarkable ease, I find joy in offering my affections and extending the hand of friendship. Mercy and forgiveness come quickly to the man who makes love his conscious goal.
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