High Ground

The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make heaven of hell, and a hell of heaven.

John Milton
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Hello Rose
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People are in the habit of expecting and demanding from other people the same ethical rules they try to apply to themselves. It is as if a person knows all about right and wrong and is therefore qualified to teach others. Ethics is a very complicated topic which has absorbed philosophers since the beginning of rational thought. And what makes it complicated is, among other things, the difference between thought and behavior.
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Morality has become a rather cheap word these says as politicians chime out about their individual moral stands on one issue or another. We've heard about the moral high ground as if it was a vantage point for casting stones down on those who don't subscribe to the moral tenets of the hill dweller. The annoying fact is that what is moral behavior in one instance is immoral in the next. And that's why it is so important to come to an understanding of ethics and how it affects the individual and the society he lives in.

If a single act can be right in one case and not in another it means we can't judge morality just by human behavior. A soldier is allowed to shoot an enemy soldier but not his next door neighbor, no matter how scurrilous he may be.

We must judge human behavior, if we allow ourselves to judge it at all, on the basis of motives. Motives are mental things. It is very difficult in most cases to know what a person's motives are for doing anything. Those are hidden in the mind of the doer and not public domain. And the person who is holding in mind the motive is free to lie about it if he wants to. .So the overall subject of ethics is not about behavior but about thought. Which brings up the question, whether you act on it or not, if you think an immoral thought are you being immoral? If you are then it is even more important to discipline your thoughts than your actions.

We have all looked into the smiling face of the "so nice" person who is secretly holding close to his mental chest the most dangerous desires and ideas. That person is living in hell. Without realizing it his mind has put him lower then the low moral ground. His pretentious at being the nice guy have forced him into hypocrisy, and sooner or later the thoughts in his mind will spill out into behavior and everyone will be amazed and shocked.

While the true evangel will carefully examine his thoughts and desires to conform them to his highest ideals and thus stand firmly on an invulnerable moral ground no matter where he is.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
Never give up.
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What's Important

How much do you engage yourself in what is truly real and important in life? That's the individual question.

Ted Danson
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Hello Bruce
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The questions might be rather what do we consider truly real and important, or how many things do we allow to get in the way of what is truly real and important? There's the laundry that has to be done, the dishes washed, a shopping list to be made, the kids off to school, the complexities of human relationships, the stress of work. Or do we just relax into a hum drum mentality and let the truly real and important things pass us by.

One day I went into Central Park in New York to watch the marathon. I was near the finish line. Behind me were two people, a man and a woman, standing on folding chairs watching the runners go by. They were waiting to see their daughter cross the finish line. While they were there the woman kept up a constant chatter about other people, the ones she knew, the ones she worked with, family members and neighbors. Her talk was all about fingernail polish, hair color, men's ties and shoes, this one's tone of voice and that one's mustache. I thought to myself "Doesn't this woman ever say something real and important?" But I suppose she thought it was all important, vital information in the over all cosmic scheme of things. The man said nothing except an occasional "Hm." Finally he said he thought he had seen the girl pass and went off to the finish line to find her. The woman became quiet, which was a blessed relief, but I'm sure her mind was working away at ties and hair color.

And how can we get to the point where we can look at all those busy chores that are interfering with any engagement with reality and importance. How do we get to the point where we can say "Stop." It is surely an individual moment. It happens according to certain circumstances, one of which is being ready. Admitting that we are ready for something else than the ordinary. It's like saying there must be more to life than this.

To some people the engagement of important ideas is an interruption in their life of daily tasks, rather than the tasks taking a back seat to the worlds true realities.

It is truly up to the individual how he approaches the obligation to be aware of the fancies and facts that float in the atmosphere of thought. We are not free from the duty of thinking. How we do it is either a drudge or a miracle.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.

Think Of That

True thinking is work. It involves being comfortable with not knowing.

Diane Cameron
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Hello Arlene, ,
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I was talking with a friend the other day and during the conversation I recalled an experience that occurred when I turned 50. I was surprised at how little I knew. I thought, here I've lived half a century, an active life, where is all this wisdom I'm supposed to have? It was then that I began to realize I didn't know any where near as much as I thought I did.

But to gain any sort of wisdom requires thought. It does not want opinion, guessing, throwing dice or consulting the advice column of the newspaper. It requires imagination, probing, investigating, challenging and, very importantly, as Diane Cameron says, being comfortable with the fact that there are many things, too many things, you don't know.

I wanted to understand the books and articles I was reading and not just skim over them. I wanted to join in on discussions people were having around me about subjects that were foreign to me. I was caught up in a trap of not really knowing the things I thought I knew.

I began by going back over some of the books I had read and really digging into them. Then I started buying books on all sorts of subjects, subjects I didn't' really think I was interested in. only to discover I did enjoy learning about them. Books on science, philosophy, history, religion and psychology really challenged my mind and forced me to think.

After a while I found that I was coming up with my own ideas which seemed to intrigue people when I expressed them. As I approached my 70"s I began to write. I suppose at last I have some small measure of wisdom. I'm still baffled by a great many things but I'm comfortable with that since there is always something to learn and to think about.

DB - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
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HYMN FOR THE OCCUPIERS

A glorious day is dawning,
And o'er the waking earth
The heralds of the morning
Are springing into birth.
In dark and hidden places
There shines the blessed light;
The beam of truth displaces
The darkness of the night.

The advocates of error
Foresee the glorious morn
And hear in shrinking terror
The watchword of reform:
It rings from hill and valley,
It breaks oppression's chain.
A thousand freemen rally,
And swell the mighty strain.
(Unknown)

NEVER GIVE UP
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AUTUMN QUESTION

What event over the past year changed your life, a lot or a little?

Only 5 answers so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

I eagerly await your answers.
DB
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