Today's
quotation:
Conscience,
as I understand it, is the impulse to do the right thing
because it is right, regardless of personal ends, and has nothing
to do with the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
Margaret Collier Graham
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Today's
Meditation:
I
hadn't ever thought of conscience in this way, but it
makes sense. My conscience does tell me what's
right, and it bothers me if I do what's wrong. In
almost any given situation, I do know what the right thing
to do is, because there's this part of me that simply
knows. When I listen to it, things are fine-- even
better than fine sometimes. When I ignore it,
though, I pay for it with regret and misgiving. My
conscience isn't concerned about what's in it for me, and
that's wonderful. It simply wants me to do what is
right.
Many of the decisions that I make in life, I make because
I honestly don't want to deal with a guilty conscience
later. I don't want to have to live with the
knowledge that I did something very wrong even though I
knew it was wrong. I often do things that are wrong,
but that's by mistake, so I don't beat myself up over
them. If I know that they're wrong, though, and I do
them anyway, then I have serious problems because I've
ignored a very important part of who I am.
We really do know when something's wrong, but we often do
it anyway because of expediency or profit. Sometimes
we do it with the idea that we'll apologize later, and
that allows us to go through with it even though our
conscience is telling us that we shouldn't. And with
so many different sources giving us so many different
ideas as to what's right and what's wrong, it's more
important now than ever to exercise our consciences, learn
from them, and follow them. We know what's right for
us, and it may not be the same thing as what's right for
someone else.
If we want peace of mind and heart in our lives, we can
follow our consciences and not violate their
guidance. In my experience, the days following a
major decision for which I used my conscience as a guide
are much more peaceful and loving than days following a
decision for which I violated my conscience-- in the latter
case, I not only know that I did something wrong, but I
know that I knew it was wrong before I did it, and
that hurts even worse.
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