Full of Self versus Emptied of Self
“If you know what the right thing to do is, why don’t you do it?”
This is a loaded question and I could spend an hour dissecting it instead of wrapping Christmas presents. However, on the cusp of a weekend with three children and a husband rolling around the house, I can’t stay here long–real people trump blog writing any day.
“If you know what the right thing to do is” is an interesting phrase. “If you know” implies that maybe some people don’t know what right is vs. wrong. However, everyone was born with a set of rules inside their heads and hearts and souls. That phrase needs to be re-written to read, “You know what the right thing to do is, but sometimes you want to do your own thing.”
And “why don’t you do it” implies that there is a reason behind our inaction. There’s multiple reasons: laziness, selfishness, cable tv, and government. One of the many topics we laugh about at our house is only when the cable tv subscription is unplugged from every house in America will we be spurred to action. Real changes will then start to be visible.
I know why I don’t do the right thing when I know what it is. I’m selfish. I would rather keep speeding north on Highway 51/Interstate 39 instead of stopping to help someone change a tire, go and buy some coolant, or give them a blanket until a friend comes. After all, I’ve got appointments to keep that are more important with people that are more important.
I want to apply the knowledge that I have been given to every situation I encounter. If someone needs a cup of cold water, part of me wants to give it to them. I need to allow that unselfish part of me, that servant part of me, to overpower to selfish part.
Are you in?