In a World of Negativity, Think Positive
There’s a lot of junk happening lately and lots of bad stuff happening in the world. We’ve got gigantic problems in Washington, we’re
fighting a war in the Middle East where there hasn’t been peace, well, ever. We’re constantly facing persecution for being “moral, ethical citizens”. Babies are being destroyed for the sake of convenience and preference. A good deal of the time, it doesn’t seem like anything is ever going to get better.
Look on the bright side, we have lots to be thankful for. Someone, somewhere has it much, much worse than you or me. Belly-achin’ and complainin’ about stuff isn’t going to make anything better. Yes, there are plenty of really horrible things taking place in our world, but they shouldn’t effect our daily lives from being focused and centered on Christ.
Imagine how badly St. Paul had it… beatings, being stoned, imprisonment and so on! (Read Philippians 2:12-18.)
Thinking positively helps us take a bad situation and turn it into something decent. There’s serious power in the reality of the power of positive thought. I encourage everyone to try three things over the next three days, and see if your attitude changes.
- Refrain from complaining.
- Find a positive side to everything.
- Do something kind for someone else at least once a day.
After three days, after you’ve tried these three things, comment back, or email, or post on Facebook, or wherever. I want to know what you experienced.
Man up!
7 Days of Virtue; Day 2 – Justice
Think of virtues like your muscles. You work your muscles out so that they can perform for you when needed. Virtue is the same way. You practice, work on the virtue and then, when the time comes, the virtue is there and ready.
Day 2 of the 7 Day Journey through the Virtues: DAY 2 – JUSTICE.
Justice is the good due to others. This removes the emphasis from self and places the emphasis on others. Overemphasis on rights misses the concept of justice. There are seven sub-virtues of Justice:
- Honor – recognizing the worth (value) of something. In ancient times, if something was weighty, it was valued (ie: gold). In ancient Greece, dishonor was symbolized by mist or steam.
- Religion – a head virtue. Habitually honoring and praising God in all we do.
- Piety – Honor and Service. Honor through obedience and respect.
- Observance – honoring our leaders/those in positions of authority over us. Observing the office they hold.
- Gratitude – honoring our benefactors. St. Thomas Aquinas suggested that we 1. Recognize the favor 2. Express thanks 3. Repay the favor.
- Kindness – intending comfort/pleasure for those around you. Anticipating others’ needs, habitually.
- Truth – our words and deeds correspond to reality. We owe reality to one another.
Practically, I am a justice-seeker, meaning that if I see someone who is not receiving “the good due to them”, I tend to step in and make it right. I’ve done this since I was a kid – if I saw someone bullying someone, I stepped in and forced the bully to respond to me. (Most often, the bullying stopped.) Knowing this, regularly for me, seeking justice can easily overlap with anger, which is dangerous. We want to afford people with the ability to receive the good that is due to them, yet we must be careful of how we go about that. Use the virtue of prudence to know when to purposefully seek justice and when to not step in.
Man up!
