We Are The Masters Of Our Destinies

 

The journey through life is essentially a journey through our imperfections. Honest reflection on our experiences grows us, and contributes abundantly to making the lives of others on this journey less precarious. From beginning to end, there are circumstances that make us who we are that are at times uncomfortable to talk about. The instabilities we experience are mostly rooted in this truth.

We must all, every day, squarely face the stories that have gone into making us who we are. If we do not, we will find them staring us down at the most inopportune moments of our lives. For better or for worse, they are there. It therefore becomes our wise duty to face them, and in doing so, free ourselves from them where necessary.

The tyranny of those experiences can be broken. Our discomforts about them can be relieved. The dysfunctions that they breed can be aborted. The dis-ease they generate can be resolved, and we do need to engage in this very necessary process of healing.

If we do not, the possibility that we might be able to engage in positively creative relationships is vastly diminished. The truth does set us free. The courage to face our truth is the most force-full stimulus in our liberation both as individuals, and as communities.

We can overcome the potential stumbling blocks in our personal histories by facing them with open and contrite hearts. A creative retelling of the stories of our experience enables us to courageously declare the truth that can potentially transcend those facts. This truth is, simply stated, that regardless of the circumstances of our beginnings, and regardless of the experiences that have brought us to where we are now, we remain able to determine what we will become.

An interesting thing happens when we engage in the liberating humility of truth telling: we find out that our stories are not unique. There is a sense in which our lives are the proverbial comedy of errors. It is one of the secretly appealing things about the experience of humor.

We laugh about the mis-steps of others because we are able to see ourselves in the mirror of their shared experiences from a comfortable distance. Pause for a moment and think of the possibilities for our lives if we were to not get stuck in the rut of taking ourselves so seriously, especially with regard to those experiences we would love to forget.

We are the masters of our destinies. Say that loudly and laugh. Yes, laugh. Relieve your chest of the burden of merely being able to wish that things were different. Make the essential difference in your life. Take a deep breath, engage all your senses, summon all the energies of your soul, and make this the first day of the rest of your life. 

Virtue… The Essence Of Greatness

 

~ But let justice run down as waters, and righteousness (Virtue) as a mighty stream ~ Amos 5:24

Those who set out to pursue greatness often reach for the heights of fame and notoriety. These being the twin stages on which they seek to establish the notice they seek in the bid to validate their vaingloriousness. In characterizing this kind of pursuit as vainglorious, I am suggesting without any apology that there is nothing virtuous about it. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the well known American poet, philosopher, and essayist, reflected a resounding truth in his declaration that - The essence of greatness is the perception that … Virtue is enough! In the absence of this comprehensively insightful  observation, I am in total agreement with the preacher in Ecclesiastes when he reflects about the virtue-less pursuit of greatness -  “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!. 

Virtue, being defined, is moral goodness; upright living. It is the conduct of one’s life in accordance with principles of Righteousness. Virtue is that course of living where doing to others as you would have them do to you is the way of life. 

Virtue challenges us to lift each other up in the face of circumstances that are down-pressing. It is that light in the darkness that warms the cold, comforts the afflicted, reassures the frightened, and points the way to those who may be lost and alone. Virtue is the idea beyond all our words and actions that informs the compassion which breeds civility. Virtue is the essence and the very substance of what we mean when we say we ‘love’. It is the vital expression of that intention.

Virtue moves us toward each other. It makes us care in a culture where one person’s mis-step and another’s misfortune are treated as nobody else’s concern. Virtue opens our eyes where it is more convenient to be blind. It makes us listen when we would otherwise carelessly ignore the voices calling out from those desperate circumstances all around us. Virtue stops us in our tracks as we insist on moving on to the next unremarkable moment that beckons at us. It forces us to hear the voices of the voiceless… of suffering widows and wounded and dying orphans in Palestine… and Haiti… and all the other places in our world where being and suffering are one and the same. In such places raising a white flag does not spare one’s life from the harsh destructiveness of indiscriminate bombings, and bullets released by the press of the trigger-happy fingers of calloused souls… .  Virtue forces us to pause… it makes us give a damn…

Virtue makes us care; and when we care we align our lives with the cause of Justice. When we align our lives with the cause of Justice, we find ourselves in solidarity with the purpose of working to liberate our fellow persons from all circumstances that are dehumanizing. That work is wide in its scope. It includes, and is not limited to circumstances that range from culturally oppressive beliefs and practices in various countries and cultures… to personal habits of drug and sexual addiction… to  the corporate cultivation of inhumane working conditions… to the corrupt political machinations of those who seek to deprive people access to the humane treatment that is an essential dimension of the soul of civil societies. Virtue calls us to call each other to personal and corporate accountability. It challenges us to let our light shine as a guide to others. 

In this season of “Peace on Earth… Goodwill to all…” - Virtue reminds us that an authentic love is not a function of anyone’s simple-minded heroism. Let us be conscious of the fact that - Peace on Earth - is always a function of goodwill to all persons. Goodwill must first be a personal desire in each of us toward ourselves. We cannot project that which does not exist in us. It is therefore an expression of a certain enlightened self- interest that calls us to design the same good for others that we desire for ourselves. 

So, as we enter that season when we celebrate the prominence of Light in our lives, let us cultivate in ourselves and encourage in each other that light which is Virtue … a lasting foundation of the greatness which one generation can establish for the next. Let us hope in this season of reflection that the virtue we seek in others, may begin in us. With this in mind, we are reminded of words from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, Chapter 4 vs 8: “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May our focus be on these things, and may we let them be the hallmarks of our walk with each other in this Life. 

In a time when the calls for Peace on Earth, and Goodwill toward all People is being drowned out by the incessant noise of war and strife in so many places; we need to do all that we can to emphasize the need to make Virtue the underlying principle by which we judge the intentions of those seeking to lead. Too often the lack of any moral compass is the preeminent quality of those seeking the mantle of leadership. In desperate attempts to save themselves from the consequences of their immorality, gaslighting has taken the place of the light that is Truth. 

We are in an existential moment when the need for a Season of Virtue tugs at our very being. That season must come, and none too soon, because without it we are doomed to a destiny of despair. The cultivation of Virtue in our lives and our relationships is the way forward if our desire and our goal is to usher in a brighter and more prosperous future. 

In the midst of our season of merrymaking, the voice of the prophet Amos resounds among us as he channels the Creator’s rebuke of those who continue to ignore the call to virtuous living while pretending to join voices with those who want  peace on earth, and goodwill to all …

“I hate, I despise your feasts,

and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.

Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,

I will not look upon them.

Take away from me the noise of your songs;

to the melody of your harps I will not listen.

But let justice roll down like waters,

and righteousness (Virtue)  like an ever-flowing stream.”~ Amos 5:21-24

So Jah say!!