Twilight in Beaufort, SC
“Give every other human
being the right you demand for yourself.”
Robert Ingersoll
“Equality is probably forever
unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but
it can never be realized because what men desire is not rights, but privileges.” - H.
L. Mencken
We hear a lot about “rights.” People fight for rights, preserve their
rights, lose their rights, die for their rights – the list goes on and on. In the grand scheme, there are many “human
rights” that folks before us fought and died to be sure that we as the
citizenry had. But on a day to day
basis, when we have gotten our dander worked up about our “rights” it is
because we feel we are due something. We
might think we have the right to revenge or recrimination when someone has
wronged or criticized us. We may think
we have the right to a settlement or compensation when we feel someone’s
actions have infringed upon our territory.
We might feel we have the right to speak our mind when we disagree with
something, the right to take something when something has been taken from us,
the right to a fair public hearing when we think we have been wronged – the list
goes on and on.
For those of us who are doing the best we
can to pursue a spiritual path, this is dangerous territory. First, there is the issue with expectations
as a whole. As soon as we narrow our focus
to an individual thing that we are “expectant” of we have set ourselves up for
resentment and self-pity if our expectation does not come to pass. At the same time, if the thing we expect
comes to pass we have precluded gratitude – after all, once “it” is ours, it
was merely what we “deserved” in the first place. So
when we decide we are going to demand something we think we are due it is easy
to put ourselves in a no-win situation. Another
problem is how easy it is to wreak all manner of destruction when we think we
are “owed” something. In a heartbeat we can
become completely self-centered and are trampling over the same “rights” of
everyone else’s. Is there anyone as
scary as the zealot, who is so fervently consumed on their mission of exacting
their due that they view any harm they cause others to be justifiable
collateral damage? Besides, if I walk around shaking my fist at
the sky and demanding that I get what I deserve I may not be all that happy with
how that works out.
On the other side of the coin, when we see
the wisdom of foregoing our “rights” on frequent occasions, do we view
ourselves as martyrs? If so, we have
simply developed a new expectation that we are going to get some type of
accolades in exchange for our “piety.” Is
there anything more pathetic as the pious victim, who bemoans their “sacrifices”
in the secret hopes that victim mentality will bring them some sort of elevated
status? If so, we have missed the whole
point of humility and gratitude. When
our focus is on “getting our due” it is impossible to be in a frame of mind
sufficiently open and willing to allow the spirit to work with and through us
to attain the best possible outcome of the situation at hand – right NOW and
right HERE. With some spiritual
maturity, we realize that what we think we are owed is seldom the thing of most
value that can come out of the situation.
We learn to get out of the way, open our mind, seek guidance and look
for the greater good. Because what we
think we want is seldom the best thing for us and almost never the best
alternative available. And if we are
looking to the future for our “salvation” we are sure to live a life full of unsated
anticipations.
Today, may I want what
I have.
To contact me, just Click Here. If you would like to contribute to this effort, Click Here. And whatever you do,
Have a great Monday !!
David
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