On Responsibility

I’ve come to reflect long and hard about my life’s choices and about my own frail morality.

And in the process of self-examination, I have come to realize several things.

1. I am not accountable for my actions before any such ephemeral courts or instances that presume to derive power from the inexistent consent of the governed. I say inexistent because they neither ask for nor receive the consent of the people. So, in a sense, the laws of men are mere transient guidelines likely to change from one year to another. They are as fickle as women. And you can actually place faith in women if their self-interest is aligned with yours, then you should ever trust the law. No, siree.
2. I am responsible before God and my own conscience.

What do I mean to say by this?

Easy. There are 10 commandments most of which predate the Old and New Testament, and which will survive us all, long into the Deep Future.

These commandments are part and parcel of what we call the Golden Rule. More on that later.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

Pretty straightforward and to the freaking point, right?!

On paper, everything looks so neat and easy to follow.

Yet, when it comes to implementing or abiding by these nominal rules that make our lives easier, we are all peccant.

Not only that we do not follow them. We delude ourselves into believing that when we forego them, we can go on living.

No, sir.

Ignoring the Golden Rule comes with a heavy price. That is when we cease to live. We enter survival mode.

In case you’re wondering what this rule might be, here you are.

“Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done unto you; wish for others what you wish for yourself”.

This phrase was discovered and captured by the Vedic Indians as early as 5,000 years ago.

And in all this time, we never stopped living by this exhortation. If we had, we would not be here figuring out what went wrong.

How many of us, me included, fall short of some if not all of these moral commandments?!

Stop and reflect upon it. No, you really must. Responsibility starts here and now.

Procrastination never served any man or beast. Don’t delay or put off this mental exercise. You must bear the responsibility for your own failings.

Not only that. You must also try to overcome your own nature. And if you work hard enough at it, one day you will become a responsible member of the species.