Meditations on Morality
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Relations among men are governed by spoken and by unspoken rules. Perhaps, the most well-known is the “Golden Rule,” which says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The standard is “you.” Its companion is love, as in “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Again, the standard is “you.”
Because the standard is “you,” your conception of yourself governs your morality with respect to others. It also reflects your self-conception by your outer conduct.
Morality, thus, moves from the inside of you to the outside of you. “You” might be a person, a family, a community, a city, a state, a nation, a religion or a race.
“Who am I, what am I, why am I, where am I, when am I, and how am I” are the most fundamental questions undergirding morality, and undergirding “you” and I.
“Morality” is particularly human in its application. Humans are insensible to the world around them until they acquire self-consciousness from others like them. Such self-consciousness consists of the answers to the 6 foregoing questions.
Love, care, and comfort are the first things felt. Am I fed, am I warm, am I dry? Am I held? If not, why not? What happens when I cry? What if I scream? Non-verbal communications such as these are life’s first human instructors. They form the setting for the jewels of understanding that will be later fitted into that setting.
Morality is foremost among these jewels. Its setting must be inlaid love. Amen.
Sunday, May 24, 2015
MORALITY
Meditations on Morality
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Relations among men are governed by spoken and by unspoken rules. Perhaps, the most well-known is the “Golden Rule,” which says “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The standard is “you.” Its companion is love, as in “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Again, the standard is “you.”
Because the standard is “you,” your conception of yourself governs your morality with respect to others. It also reflects your self-conception by your outer conduct.
Morality, thus, moves from the inside of you to the outside of you. “You” might be a person, a family, a community, a city, a state, a nation, a religion or a race.
“Who am I, what am I, why am I, where am I, when am I, and how am I” are the most fundamental questions undergirding morality, and undergirding “you” and I.
“Morality” is particularly human in its application. Humans are insensible to the world around them until they acquire self-consciousness from others like them. Such self-consciousness consists of the answers to the 6 foregoing questions.
Love, care, and comfort are the first things felt. Am I fed, am I warm, am I dry? Am I held? If not, why not? What happens when I cry? What if I scream? Non-verbal communications such as these are life’s first human instructors. They form the setting for the jewels of understanding that will be later fitted into that setting.
Morality is foremost among these jewels. Its setting must be inlaid love. Amen.
