Right and wrong.
Right and left.
Right and doing nothing.
Right, and being alone.
Right is right.
What are the consequences of doing right?
It takes energy to do what is right as much as it takes to do what is wrong.
For the most part, most of us like to stand in the gray area.
That place in-between where we don't have to react.
We don't have to lift a finger.
We don't have to have any anxiety.
We don't have to fear if we are right or wrong.
The silent majority.
We can be left alone.
A truth.
To set a standard and to declare what is right versus what is wrong ultimately will shine the spotlight of scorn and ridicule upon you.
Why?
Do you know the old adage about the crabs in a barrel?
One of the crabs wanted to know what was outside of its world.
What was outside of the barrel that all of the other crabs were trapped in?
There were tales of the great beyond where everything you ever wanted came true.
There were also tales of monsters of dark creatures that would devour you.
This crab decided to crawl out despite being warned that it would be dangerous, as its fellow crabs had advised against it.
Well, just as the crab started to crawl out, the other crabs grabbed hold of it and pulled it back into the barrel.
Ultimately, they all found themselves on that night's menu.
They made their own worst fears come true.
They did nothing.
Doing what's right makes people angry.
Why?
It forces a spotlight upon their own lives, revealing their apathy.
Their nihilism.
Their unwillingness to put out the fire.
They don't want that hot light upon them to say what is right because they don't want to face the possibility that they might be wrong.
Even in the face of certitude, what is obviously the right thing to do.
If a child is sexually attacked, the person obfuscates and pretends they don't actually see.
They don't understand why they have a responsibility to step in and stop it.
Christians have a misinterpretation of the biblical passage of not judging others.
All recorded civilizations and societies have had a sense of morality.
What is right and what is wrong.
If judging were wrong, there would be no courts and no one in prison for theft, rape, or murder.
Anarchy would rule.
Taking a stand throughout the history of humankind against what is wrong has placed obvious targets upon these individuals who did.
But let's bring it down to everyday living?
The next time you're at dinner with your family and your uncle makes a racist joke, do you call them out on it?
When you're on the bus, and your bag is sitting on the seat next to you, do you pick it up so that the stranger can have a seat?
When you see a cop beating up on a guy, do you call for restraint?
You can see that your congressional district is gerrymandered.
Do you call out your politicians to make it fair for all voters?
If you know a neighbor is alone during this time of the pandemic, do you check in with them to see if they need anything?
These are a few examples of doing the right thing in everyday life.
They may be easy for you, difficult for others.
Doing the right thing will always bring about consequences.
For every action, there is a reaction.
Doing the right thing in the face of wrong, doing the right thing ultimately in the face of evil, will leave you in an empty space.
Separated from the crowd.
I've personally found myself many times in that lonely space.
Most days, I feel like I stand at the edge of an abyss, calling out but hearing nothing coming back.
I recognize it is a tired world we all live in.
Now, we are more separated because of this health crisis.
The effort to do what is right is neglected by many.
Given lip service by most.
The darkness of the world is borne by a few.
As Mark Twain said, "Wages of doing what is right versus what is wrong is the same."
Most of what we do on this journey called life will never be recognized or appreciated beyond our own recollection of events.
Our good works will be buried with us.
However…
Count me as standing against evil till the end of time.
Standing against the wicked.
Standing against the corrupt.
A warrior for the light.
Giving comfort to the tired, the lonely, the sick.
For it is only in that blessed light that, once shown into darkness, can it release the enslavement of man's mind to the shackles of other people's tyranny.
We are bound together.
Peace
Daniel J Frey aka Toby
