Thought of the Day 02.03.09

In the area of interpersonal ethics, two major breakthroughs must occur in our thinking for us to become morally mature.

The first happens when we realize that other people are like us. Their needs and desires matter as much as our own do. Thus, it is unacceptable to live as if what happens to us matters but what happens to others does not. This process of outgrowing selfishness usually takes quite some time, perhaps our whole lives.

The second happens when we realize that other people are unlike us. This means that they cherish different things than we do. Thus, serving them requires putting ourselves in their framework to discover how they experience joy and also learning to rejoice in their joy even if its source makes no sense to us.

Awareness of the equal worth of other people combined with drawing satisfaction from seeing them get what they value makes it possible to possess a vital Biblical virtue: love.