Ethics and Eternal Considerations

Life is relational. This makes sense.  Every relationship is an eternal responsibility. Hmmmmm. This also makes sense to me, but perhaps not to someone who has no time for “eternity.” Graduate school was the time and place that planted these realities in my brain. They still ring true for me. They help me paddle my canoe. And having a good heart imbued with wisdom, as the Dalai Lama says is the greatest happiness, suggests the best way for life on the water to unfold.

I can always learn, unless I have no questions or curiosity. There are plenty of excellent guides to carry me forward these many years since grad school. And that is actually one of the main benefits of  my education. But there is also this: the study of Ethics fascinated me, but also frightened me.

 Probably the thing about the study ethics that frightened me was that being on the cutting edge of something was exciting but also seemed dangerous. What if you were wrong?  Probably what I failed to grasp was that while  you had to follow the logic and then stick your neck out, if you were later proven wrong, you would regroup and learn and grow beyond the point of the cutting edge. You didn’t have to just stay there and bleed to death!  You would contribute. You would continue to learn. At that time, bioethics and medical advances were racing with each other. They still are spurring each other on. Add theological principles to the mix, and the challenges and rewards multiply.  But the study of ethics is immense and wide ranging and touches probably every facet of our existence.

 So why have I been thinking about this lately? I guess it is because some days it seems that nothing matters. Up is down, and down is up, and events and behaviors of visible leaders and hidden, ordinary people in our society are just crazy.  I now have more than a handful of friends who cannot bear to listen to or watch the news because it is so depressing, infuriating, disgusting, upsetting, confusing and unhelpful.   I understand that. But I watch it all, and while experiencing those emotions myself, I find it good to know the details of what is going on. I ask the questions, look for the answers and hope. And I am sustained and also mightily encouraged when I see there are still leaders and ordinary people much smarter than myself and much more invested in our society than I am.  They sometimes get headlines too, but just knowing they exist  helps me focus and is extremely helpful. And they reassure me that the bullies, the disruptive students, the inmates in the asylum, will not be allowed free range forever!

So what happens when an administration and/or individuals and large segments of a society, of American society, toss aside and disregard the usual ethical norms? What happens when it reaches a point where there are no discernible norms, when nothing seems to matter, when even the rule of law seems nonexistent? When acceptable behavior becomes totally arbitrary and subjective and relative, should everything be legislated?  Of course not. That would be impossible and inhuman.

So what happens is this: I  mentally resist the lawlessness, the lunacy, the disregard for ethical norms, the gutting of institutions and treaties. I see it for what it is. I look back at history and I look forward to the future.  I know I do not have to reinvent the wheel or rediscover fire or learn again to walk upright.  I know I just have to put one foot in front of the other one day at a time, and live for the day when that frozen ninth circle of hell will claim it’s own.

Ethics is eternal! Hallelujah!

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