Sunday’s first reading clarifies moral choices that occasionally face us in the working world. The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. … Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. (Gen 12:1-4)
Abram turned “his life and will over to the care of God.” Great blessings followed.
Most of us face similar choices. They may be less dramatic and hidden from our consciousness. When people miss them, the results are often obvious.
Consider the recent United States Air Force Procurement scandal which has put several top-level officials in prison and led to fundamental critiques of mistaken and wasteful strategy. Based on available evidence, this scandal might have been avoided – providing that someone inside the Pentagon had been willing to “fall on his sword” – the slang phrase for making a hard ethical choice.
My purpose is not to point fingers. I don’t know the facts of the case. My purpose is to use the example to stimulate a question: How do we recognize and execute ethical decisions when they present themselves?
David Whyte writes and speaks about how corporate executives can recognize these choices. His book The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America. compares stories told by his corporate clients with ancient tales to show how crucial decisions are shaped by factors deeper than the balance sheet or the latest marketing strategy. He relates how a consultant is called into the Chief Executive Officer’s headquarters and told to encourage another person to accept a transfer. The consultant pauses, knowing that this transfer is against every principle that he has developed for the company. Under pressure he looks down into a dark pool of fear - and accedes to the CEO’s request. Whyte contrasts this true story with the myth of Beowulf who has to find within himself the courage to plunge into the dark and fight the monster Grendel. He shows how reading and reflecting on the story Beowulf yields insights into the “dark side” of our own personal histories. Acknowledging and dealing with this dark side through literature can help in finding the courage to confront the “monsters” in our own lives.
Whyte makes an excellent case for reflecting on poetry and myth as a guide to discerning the “next right thing” for our action. Reflection on scripture can also help us learn God’s will and find the courage to carry it out.
P.S. Click here to read how how the Piarist religious order was abolished in 1646. The reason? Someone failed to make ethical choices to prevent child abuse.
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