Idle and Blessed

An Ethics Autobiography Written for REL 2510, Dr. Watts January 15, 2012 It seems as though I have been thinking about ethics since the moment I entered this world. The importance of right and wrong has never escaped me; my earliest memory is of my dad instructing me how to correctly and gently give flowers to my mom after the birth of my little brother. Instructions were the fuel my little brain needed to function. A constant dose of the right/wrong dichotomy was necessary to keep my small childhood self moving along in the world without confusion. And I was quick to highlight the importance of ethics to others as well. Justice has always flowed through my veins, although bringing with it a danger all its own. For instance, the words, “It’s not fair!” echoed daily through the halls of my house growing up, but they were words my parents did not always appreciate. Sometimes demanding justice did not work, I learned. Sometimes it alienated me from people, like my brothers when I ratted...

Do people really like me as a person? Is it possible for me to make really great friends? Do I have what it takes to graduate well, get the kind of job that will fulfill me vocationally, and maybe someday be open to marriage and a family? Am I actually moving toward being a functional, useful, mostly healthy member of society? Those are my questions tonight. I recognize that they are spawned by fear and inadequacy and isolation. But I also recognize that you have very clearly and in an only minimally cheesy/predictable way answered them long ago, when my existence still lived as a thought in your creative imagination. You answered them simply by choosing to create me and invest yourself in every aspect of my being, even down to the worst of my flaws. By seeing the end result of Jordan and still deciding to create her, you made the statement, "You are worth it." And so, I am. By breaking the Trinity on the cross and restoring me to hope and unity with you, you made the stateme...

I bet sometimes Jesus wasnt very fun to be around. I mean, he was super vague at times, super snarky at times, at he didn't usually put up with people's crap. Sure, he was very gentle with people and gracious and loving and all of that, but he lived more like a Mystic than like Mother Theresa, so those nice qualities probably still had a touch of otherworldliness to them. And he didn't stay in the same town for long. His followers couldn't be real estate owners or business moguls or anything. They couldn't even be good little synagogue members in any one community. And it probably sucked that Jesus knew everyone's flaws and wasn't afraid to call them out. I wonder if I would've followed Jesus. I wonder if I would've been wise enough and selfless enough to realize who he was and how badly I needed him, regardless of the life I had to leave for him. You know, sometimes we give Peter a hard time for being a little slow, or Judas for being the ultimate b...