Choices

The older I get the more I realize life is about choices, and there's nothing else which really matters.

It's ultimately the choices we make which dictate in large measure who we decide that we are at any given moment, and its those same choices which dictate who will be and where will stand at future moments.

Last week there was a debate on campus about the conservative and liberal philosophies when it comes to dealing with the poor. Yeah, that's what counts as fun conversation at a Jesuit school. I'm all for difficult conversations, because sometimes the most difficult are the most important.

Conservative: Those who are poor are somewhat responsible for their condition and shouldn't always rely on others to help them up and help them out.

Liberal: Those who are poor need our assistance, and we as more fortunate persons are obligated to serve. ( Most Jesuit institutions count it as their mission to teach their students to become "Men and Women For Others" because everything goes back to needing to be connected to A.M.D.G. (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam) translated means (For the Greater Glory of God) even if I didn't have it memorized three years of middle school Latin might still have gotten me to that point.)

I won't even endeavor to debate those two positions at this time, maybe later. I had enough time listening to the speakers last week. I found flaws with both arguments.

I will say that one speaker's words did resonate me. She was a philosophy professor who talked about the importance of learning "Ethics". She said that once upon a time at fine liberal arts colleges across the country, Ethics was taught in the senior year, and by the college president. She said it was deemed so important because the senior year is the final moments when students are deciding, "Who they are, who they want to become, and what they will do to help others." She went on to say is that the importance of learning Ethics is that Ethics teaches one to live morally and how to live rightly. Ethics also is the last bit of yourself which forms an important part of your identity. Ethics is also a lens through which we should make a lot of life's more important decisions.

So there goes another thing I have to think about when making choices.