September 13, The Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
I recently stumbled on an address by commentator Dennis Prager, who is a faith-based commentator. In his address he offered this moral question scenario: You are walking your dog on the beach and at one point your dog drifts into deeper water and it is clear that the dog is in trouble and drowning. At the same time, let’s say ten feet away, you notice a stranger—a person you do not know also in trouble in the water and also drowning. The question becomes, who do you save or perhaps, who do you attempt to save first, the stranger or your dog? In polling Prager did, he found that there was a consistent one-third would save the dog, one-third would save the stranger, and one third did not know. This situation poses the question of how do we base our morality? Is it based on feelings or on a higher ethical standard? I found this rather intriguing.
Prager’s scenario brought back memories of the 1980s card/board game Scruples. Some of you may remember the game. It challenged players with ethical dilemmas covering topics such as work, money, friends, family, neighbors and relationships. It’s creator, Canadian Henry Makow became very popular for creating the game. Remembering playing it myself years ago, it challenged my ethics and how I would address moral and ethical questions.
Living a moral and ethical life often is extremely challenging. We have our own (powerful) self-interests and emotions in play verses a moral code we desire to follow—like the Gospel message of Jesus. We get pulled in opposite directions as a stretch exercise band in the hands of a body builder. We succeed and we fail. It is why we must often recommit to God and Jesus’ Gospel message many times a day to remain faithful.
This past Friday was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Because I saw and was moved by the movie United 93, my focus goes first to those who lost their lives when United Airline Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As you may remember, a group of passengers, aware of the devastation at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, knew that their hijacked plane was heading towards a similar fate. They decided to try to take over the plane to keep it from reaching its target, and if lucky, take it over and try to land it safely. They were very much aware that this attempt could cost them their lives and the lives of roughly forty other passengers. We know that they were successful in keeping the plane from striking its target the hijackers planned to hit but died in the process. They gave their lives for the sake of perhaps hundreds of other lives at the target. What a powerful moral decision to offer themselves for the sake of many other innocent people on that dreadful day already full of loss of life. They were heroes and martyrs.
We pray to for the Spirit’s wisdom as we face our own moral dilemmas, often muddied in much “grey area” requiring much discernment. May our often-difficult decisions bring the Gospel message alive for all.