Seasons of the Soul

Ethics in America

Recently the news has been full of breaches of ethics in religion, business, and other areas where we have depended on authority figures to protect us, grow our investments, and uphold our trust.

Our President commented that we need to develop a new code of ethics, and I was somewhat taken aback. As I looked up ethics in Webster’s College Dictionary, it stated that in addition to ethics being “a system or set of moral principles governing human action, ethics is the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of action and the goodness and badness of motives and ends.”
In my mind, this states clearly that we already have clear guidelines to ethics, and rather than creating new ethics, we need to return to the ones we’ve had all along.

Somewhere in the rush to succeed and achieve, a group of people have determined that the highest authority they have to account to is their own agenda. They have forgotten that they belong to a larger body, and have responsibility to society as a whole.

I have observed through the years how the concept of ethical behavior has been altered to fit whatever the person not behaving ethically wants it to be. We experienced this mincing of technicalities with our last president, and the door was opened long before his indiscretions by people in positions of power behaving unethically.

In the 1980s there was an excellent series on PBS called Ethics in America. It looked at some of the hard questions facing different sectors in our country and how ethics were often bent to justify desired goals by companies, military, politicians, and other groups.

The problem with bending ethics is that somebody always gets hurt in order to satisfy someone else’s desire. When we choose not to abide by a moral code of ethics, we jeopardize our reputation and we put our populace and economy at risk. Once trust is betrayed, it is difficult to regain.

As I look out at the ethical failings in the larger world around me, I also have to look within and ask where my own ethics need strengthening. Where do I bend moral concepts to justify my own actions? If I long for an ethical world, I must help build it. As an individual, I can uphold values that affirm the Golden Rule of treating others as I would have them treat me. And as a citizen, I can hold those in positions of authority accountable for their actions. Our individual voices become a collective power to be reckoned with. And if each of us will not accept injustice and unethical behavior within or without, changes will take place.  
We don’t have to create new ethics; we just need to live by the ones we already have.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2002

Again and Again

I have a game on my computer that is a form of solitaire called Free Cell. You can play the same game over and over again if you don’t get it right...choosing to have the hand re-dealt until you figure it out. I sometimes play the game as a form of relaxation, but in doing so, am aware of how each incorrect step that defeats me leads to greater awareness the next time around. I make different mistakes each round until finally I see the pattern that wasn’t clear previously. Then I am able to “win” the game. And that always reminds me of what we do in life.

How many of us can point to repetitious patterns that emerge over and over again, giving us the opportunity to take what we’ve learned and apply it when a similar situation arises? To me, it shows the incredible patience of life outworking. The seed is planted at birth, and we begin to grow into the role we have been given. We take twists and turns, congratulating ourselves for our successes and bemoaning our failures. But, in actuality, we are playing the hand we’ve been dealt given our perception in the moment. And when we don’t see the snares ahead, and make moves that later are regretful, we will have something similar come into our lives at another point to give us the opportunity to deal with it differently...to replay with greater awareness. It dawns on me that we live as long as we do so that we can figure out the puzzle that we are...to put the cards down in winning combinations, and to recognize the benefit of the errors along the way.

It has been said that those who have the greatest success have also experienced the most failure. We tend not to look at failure as a stepping stone to achievement. Yet, when we were small and started to walk, if we gave up after the first few falls, we’d all be sitting on the floor, crawling at best. That’s not how we’re designed. The brain takes in the stimulus, processes it, and if we are willing...flags the “failure” next time, giving us an opportunity to choose differently. And after the trial and error process (no matter how long), we can experience the fullness of victory hard won. To make a “right” choice in the beginning doesn’t lend itself to the same level of depth of character that we achieve through the longer process. When you see someone who has achieved something without much effort, there is often a shallow perspective and sense of entitlement or of good fortune. When someone has found their place through repeated effort, it shows. There is humility and understanding about the process of life.

So, as we get the opportunity to play the game again and again, new insights or awareness emerge if we are open to being consciously aware. Rather than seeing ourselves as wrong, we see how our perception is growing and bringing us into alignment with the  greater possibility of our lives. Again and again we repeat the process...until we get it “right”.

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2002

Thoughts to Ponder

*Maybe God wanted us to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.
*Maybe when the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.
*Maybe the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.
*Maybe it is true that we don't know what we have got until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.
*Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but if it does not, be content it grew in yours.
*It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone.
*Go beyond physical looks; look for the beauty within another.
*Go for more than material wealth; find the inner treasure.
*Choose someone who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.
*There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real.
*Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have this one life in which to create your reality, so utilize your time here well.
*May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make
you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.
*Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.
*The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.
*Happiness is made for those who cry,
those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for only
they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.
*Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear.
*The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go on
well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.
*When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you are the one who is smiling and everyone
around you is crying, but smiling because you were here!

~Author Unknown

Gift from a Wounded Bird

Not only do plants provide us with incredible lessons, but all nature. My friend, Bea Thomas, shared something that happened to her when a bird flew into a plate glass window at her house. Here’s Bea’s description.

“The day it happened, the bird smashed into the big picture window, and he fell to the ground, his head all twisted and turned.  He looked as though his neck was broken and my husband also thought it had a broken neck.

I went outside and sat in front of the ground and prayed with him for a long time.  There was never a flicker of movement on the bird.  At one point, I went in and got my Lamsa bible and read some from the book.  I continued to talk and pray to him and there was no response.  

About 3 1/2 hours later it was getting dark and my husband wanted me to come in.  I said no.  He brought out a blanket and I sat on the blanket.  I started talking to the bird.  I told him I couldn't bring him in the house because I was afraid I would hurt him picking him up.  I told him there were a lot of cats around and he couldn't stay there all night.  Then I would say "come on, breathe, move those wings, etc."  I kept saying this. 

Over 4 hours went by and it was really damp and getting very dark. I told him about the time and that I could not stay there much longer.  All this talk was interspersed with prayer.  I thought I saw a little movement on the eye lid and I started encouraging him to breathe. He opened his eyes.  I started saying, "Move those wings, you can do it.  Come on move those wings. Breathe.  Stand up."  He just flapped his wings a couple of times, turned his head and looked at me,peep, and flew off.

It was shortly after that in the exact spot I had 7 asparagus plants.  I loved asparagus and was very excited about them.  I transplanted them in the garden.  The next year I got more asparagus.  The following year it was crocus, then it was a beautiful orange lily, one year a Veronica, then came the Star Gazer, this year it is a lovely, pink Flox.  My neighbor comes over to see what new gift I receive each year. It is quite amazing, and makes me realize how important it is for us to be conscious and communicate with nature.”

The story Bea tells illustrates the necessity of recognizing our inter-relatedness to all living things. As we deal honorably with other life forms, nature responds in kind. Perhaps our wild weather patterns, animal diseases, and other imbalances are all results of our collective attitudes of unconsciousness towards the earth on which we live. What might happen if we began to treat everything and everyone with equal respect and dignity? As we utilize the gifts of nature, might we experience some broader miracle if we were to show concern and pray for or with all that we take for granted?

In order to affect major change, it is said that only a meaningful minority is required. Through perceptual adjustment, we can be that, and as such...just imagine! If concern for one little bird brought the gift of so many different flowers year after year, what might our concern for the water,  mountains, air, and our food chain bring?... Just imagine!

From Seasons of the Soul print edition, Summer 2001