Goals: nourishment or escape?

I am selfish.  I cannot be selfless.  (See my 1991 essay.)  But I do aspire to a life of service; to be the best example to my daughters and the best representative of my family and friends that I can be; to live up to my countless blessings.  So, when I form a personal goal, big or small, I will try to remember to ask myself whether pursuing that goal will nourish my capacity to serve that of God which is in every person or will simply be an escape.

Justice

Pure justice is like pure oxygen.  It is extremely difficult and expensive to produce.  Most people and organizations are simply unable to produce it.  Most people would have a hard time recognizing it – and wouldn’t know how to use it well, or even safely, if they had it.  But, like the oxygen in the air around us, mixed as it is with other gases and some pollutants, there is much justice all around us if we are willing to accept it in its natural form.

The math of life

We cannot know when our last day of this life will come.  Illness, accident and tragedy strike without warning.  However, if one enjoys every day as much as possible, when the last day comes, one can know that one has had a life of enjoyed days.