THE RIGHT THING TO DO

By Jorge D. Lomboy



Of the many words in printed material and words we hear from people around us, sometimes we are confused and at other times we are at a loss to know the truth.  We don’t know who to believe, we don’t know who to follow and we don’t know who is credible.  Everyone seems to be trustworthy for being down to earth.  Their articulation gives us no reason to doubt their credibility for their stories relate to our own experiences. 

We seek the advice of the well-informed when we face problems that are too difficult for us to handle.  We also listen to the opinions of our friends when we are met with issues we cannot resolve ourselves.  But we are vulnerable to being influenced and carried away by those whose advice and opinion we rely upon.

All of us at certain times in our lives need to take advice and receive help from other people.  The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself but unfortunately there is hardly anyone that is free from the influence of someone else.  And so we struggle to be independent and yet we are sustained by congenital relationships that weigh heavily on us either by destiny or by choice.  Our independence is an aspiration that is tied up to a life of interdependence.  Our greatest battles are with our own minds especially when pressure, stress and tension bedim our discernment.  In all affairs of love, religion, politics and business, there is theretofore a big question mark in our minds.  The right thing to do may be the simplest question that is the hardest to answer.

The right thing to do is never moot and academic and the right thing to say has always been met with disagreement.  You don’t make decisions because they are easy, you don’t make them because they are cheap, you don’t make them because they are popular.  You make them because they are right.  However knowing what is right is much easier than doing what is right.  The right thing to do is everyone’s choice, everyone’s call and everyone’s decision under the blessings of freedom of conscience.  Sometimes doing what is right is much easier than knowing what is right.  This is specifically manifested in the life of the godly who believe that where virtue has united, death could not separate.  In any event, what we say and what we do incriminates us and defines who we are.

We can only make a mistake when we know the difference between right and wrong.  We commit no sin until we know the difference between good and evil.  Knowing imputes accountability and responsibility.  Knowledge is both an asset and a liability.  We all need to have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing for we cannot solve a problem doing what is right with the same mind that created it.  The right thing to do has been exemplified in the search for the lost sheep, the welcome of the prodigal son or the seeking of the missing silver coin as we come to realize the value of things we have when we lose them.

The right thing to do is a question that is often asked than answered.  This is because we happened to be in the wrong place with the wrong people rather than be in the right place with the right people.  But if there is any truth brought home to us by our own conscience, it is this: that we are personally responsible for what we do, that we have no means of shifting our responsibility and that dereliction of duty involves punishment.  The right thing to do is nothing more than doing the right thing that comes when one is his own person.  You are never your own person doing the right thing when the wish of a superior is your command.  You are never your own person for as long as you are a subordinate serving another in a subservient capacity.  The right thing to do is demanded of leadership that must do what is right even when no one is watching.

What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient.  The appeal of convenience is irresistible to those who follow the line of less resistance.  The luxury of convenience is the reason people compromise what is right by doing the easy wrong for it is easier to acquire a fortune through dishonesty.  I disagree with the popular perception and the conventional wisdom that one is a better person for wallowing in the luxury of convenience.  I do believe that one who suffers for doing what is right is a better person than someone who acquires possessions doing what is wrong.  It is wishy-washy to gauge the importance of people by what they have rather than judge them by what they are.  It is the internal and not the external that qualifies a better person.  The right thing to do is to circumscribe our desires and keep our passions within due bounds towards all mankind.

If you are too weak to do the right thing, you are too strong to do the wrong thing.  If you are too big to do little things, you are too small to do big things.  In a democracy the majority rules.  The right thing to do by elected leaders is to make decisions and policies reflecting the greatest good for the greatest number.  Good decisions will help thousands of people live well.  Bad decisions will disrupt their lives.  The greatest good for the greatest number appears to be the crucible of leadership in a democracy.  Regrettably, this crucible is junked to antiquity by our brand of politicians that are a bunch of opportunists and apologists.

The members of the bench are not politicians but they have something in common with politicians.  They make decisions based on a criteria that is entirely different from the criteria used by politicians.  For politicians, the right thing to do is to satisfy the majority by providing for the well-being of people for the greatest number.  For members of the bench, the right thing to do has nothing to do with majority and nothing to do with the greatest good for the greatest number.  The right thing to do is to make decisions that are just and rulings that are fair regardless of who gets hurt.  Politicians have hearts and minds open to number.  Judges have hearts and minds open to reason but blind to number as depicted on the blindfolded statue of Lady Justice.  On this premise, the right thing to do is variable and is contingent on the work we do and the duties we uphold.

For private citizens who are neither politicians nor judges, the right thing to do is to provide service and be of service to others.  Service is the rent we pay for living.  It is the very purpose of life and not something we do on our own spare time.  Everyone can be great because anyone can serve.  We don’t need a college degree to serve, we don’t have to get our subject and verb to agree to serve.  We only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.  We were not born unto ourselves alone.  Who lives unto himself, he lives to none.  Service is the highest expression of potency.  When we cease to contribute service to others, we begin to die.  You can’t get far away until you start showing something for somebody else with the right thing to do.

In a free society controversy is indispensable, competition is unavoidable and conflict is unpreventable.  Controversy, competition and conflict are the names of the game in everything we do and wherever we go.  In this context, self-interest is paramount.  Everyone is out to protect their own interests against opposing interests and against all odds.  This predicament compels every one of us to decide on the right thing to do which is more subjective than objective.  In this scenario, everyone is left to each his own for life is a free-for-all game on the right thing to do.