Lenses Revisited
August 19, 2009
I wrote an old post in which I said: "Rosy Lenses or Bleak Lenses - it doesn't change the things that happen, but it changes the way we feel about them. So why wouldn't anyone choose to feel good?"
I used to look at everything in Black and White. But as I got older, I realised that wasn't quite possible. So many things were subjective, depending on situation and taking into consideration different factors.
An action is an action. But what drives it? Motivation. Is the motivation pure or evil? Does it then, change the perception of the action?
Action: MAN KILLS PUPPY - good or evil?
The seemingly obvious answer is Evil.
Action: MAN KILLS RABID PUPPY - good or evil?
Now it's not so clear. Well, it's still a puppy, but it has rabies. Some might argue that the man is doing good by putting it out of misery. Others might say he's inhumane, still. Whatever.
Action: MAN KILLS RABID PUPPY WHICH ATTACKS SLEEPING BABY - good or evil?
Now the man could be viewed by some as a hero. The argument that it is an evil action now becomes harder to justify.
What I'm saying is that, at the end of the day, everyone's gonna have different ways of looking at things, and reacting to it, depending on their source and depth of information, and state of being.
And everyone feels that their actions are justified.
Black or White or Grey? None of the above. We live in a colorful world.
In the end, just live your life as you think you should. The noise doesn't and shouldn't matter. You are accountable only to your own conscience.
May we all choose Goodness.
- - - - -
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Amen.
I used to look at everything in Black and White. But as I got older, I realised that wasn't quite possible. So many things were subjective, depending on situation and taking into consideration different factors.
An action is an action. But what drives it? Motivation. Is the motivation pure or evil? Does it then, change the perception of the action?
Action: MAN KILLS PUPPY - good or evil?
The seemingly obvious answer is Evil.
Action: MAN KILLS RABID PUPPY - good or evil?
Now it's not so clear. Well, it's still a puppy, but it has rabies. Some might argue that the man is doing good by putting it out of misery. Others might say he's inhumane, still. Whatever.
Action: MAN KILLS RABID PUPPY WHICH ATTACKS SLEEPING BABY - good or evil?
Now the man could be viewed by some as a hero. The argument that it is an evil action now becomes harder to justify.
What I'm saying is that, at the end of the day, everyone's gonna have different ways of looking at things, and reacting to it, depending on their source and depth of information, and state of being.
And everyone feels that their actions are justified.
Black or White or Grey? None of the above. We live in a colorful world.
In the end, just live your life as you think you should. The noise doesn't and shouldn't matter. You are accountable only to your own conscience.
May we all choose Goodness.
- - - - -
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: For thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou annointest my head with oil; My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.
Amen.
i think its a matter of perspective. how the person is feeling at the point of time and how he react to what he sees.
the same thing happening to the same person at different might end up differently! ahahaha.
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever."
nice verse to remind me about what i should have been doing.
hahaha!
dale =)
well said well said on the analysis =) hmm jus felt very long din leave a note here le.. wanna ask.. hai hao ma? (how're u?) =^-^=
Glad to know that you are 'growing up and maturing' and able to see grey ...not everything is black and white ...and seeing things from perspective and being objective. Sometimes, it is good to always step back and look at the big/broader picture. You may discover something that you may have missed out earlier. Hope you will not be easily swayed or influenced by -others - K? and keep the cheeky grin with you.
To be frank, I am not a fan of yours but I like to visit your blog. Simply because I do find enlightenment reading your entries.
Just to share a favourite quote of mine:
Our life's a stage, a comedy: either learn to play and take it lightly, or bear its troubles patiently. - Palladas
It's all perception.
Happy 25th birthday!
Enjoy your day!
Happy birthday again. You are a quarter century old ! ;)
As for those who've asked if I've gotten the cards sent to MCS, I'll check up on that when I get back to work, alright?
Once again, thanks for all the love! :)
is ur 25th bdae..a yr older again..may all ur wishes come true..n oso all e best in everything u do..enjoy ur holi n ur big dae ba.. :)
once again..happy birthday!!
All the best!
Takecare! ^^
Goodness? How do you even define goodness?
You said that everyone have a different way of perceiving things and with that, different actions emerged. Based on the understanding of each individual, their action is being justified by their inner moral values according to their understanding.
Since that is so, an action that a person perceived to be good is the result of the justification of their inner moral values. Just like in your given example of man killing rapid puppy. But the rabid puppy that is soon to be killed will not exactly feel the same way as the man who think he is doing a good thing. A heroic act.
After all, this is just another excuses to sugarcoat killing. No matter how high your think your thought may be, killing will still be killing. A life will be lost and you will be a murderer.
But Why such an action are even harder to be justified?
Because, an act of goodwill is like the case of sanity. They are all defined by society. Thus, act of goodwill will only be considered truly good if it benefits the mass. Anything lesser than that is questionable as those not in the beneficial group will always have "noise" and "voice".
But of course, the noise as you said doesn't and shouldn't matter. That is if you can handle the cries of a dying puppy or the noise that came from your act of doing "good".
Our own conscience is the only thing that matter. But again, when there are no others, there will be nothing for conscience to reflect upon and as such nothing for us to do reflection from.
Perhaps, we have forgotten. There are still others beside us. They are the reflection of our own action. Mirror of our own image. They are the one that let us be aware of our own personality through interaction and reflection. They are also the one that you based all your decision and action upon. They are the target of your action and you are the result of the reaction.
Without them. Without these others, our very own conscience is basically nothing and non-existence.
Therefore, it is questionable if we can only just be accountable to our own conscience where our conscience is build up by these many others and their voice and noise are ultimately, part of our conscience.
Amen (:
God is good.
Keep the faith, no matter whether you're 25, 35 or 45. I think you're on track.
i like that you're shining for God in the marketplace!
he's gonna use u greatly! Jia you! (: