Intriguing L&O Question

Last week I had my first Licensing and Ordination interviews through Unity Worldwide Ministries at Unity Institute. These are interviews aimed at assessing my progress and aptitude in my training toward ministerial leadership in Unity. Essentially, they ask us ministry students a series of questions ranging from personal growth to leadership issues and from metaphysics and theology to our understanding of the Bible.

In one of my interviews I was asked probably the most intriguing and challenging question posed to me, at least in content. The question essentially was as follows: "How do you understand the statement, 'This is neither right nor wrong; it simply is'?" Most of the queries shot at me were behavior-based questions concerning how I have reacted in a certain situation in the past or how I would deal with some hypothetical situation in the future or how I have applied a certain Unity teaching. However, this one caught me off-guard.

At the time, I think I gave some short, reactional answer dealing with affirming the truth of everything "just being" in the Absolute but needing to deem things right or wrong in everyday life, in the relative realm. It seemed to be well-received, but later on in the day the question still plagued me and I realized my answer didn't live up to my own liking. In fact, that night I awoke in the middle of the night with this very quandary on my mind - and couldn't get back to sleep, I might add.

So, as usual, I hashed out my own internal cognitive dissonance in ... the shower. Where else? After much frustrating dialogue with myself, I came to a tentative conclusion about the issue:

I actually have major problems with the statement that nothing is right or wrong, but simply "is". First of all, I believe we live in a morally ordered universe. That is, the universe or God or Ultimate Reality is essentially Good or "for us." This could also be expressed as "God's will" or "karma," both of which are grounded in the belief that there is something inherently moral about Ultimate Reality (however one understands this). And, since we humans are expressions or creations of this eternal, infinite Good, we ourselves are basically good. However, since we have free will (a requisite for any morality or ethical reasoning, by the way), we are able to make decisions that are to a greater or lesser extent aligned with God the Good and which have an impact on our experience and that of others as well. This, to me, means that we are fundamentally and essentially moral beings.

To say that everything simply "is" is a tendency toward an ignoring or downplaying of our moral reasoning, which necessitates using our Judgment/Wisdom spiritual power to discern what is in harmony with God the Good or not, to differentiate between experiences and behaviors that are good or bad, right or wrong, so that we can continually strive to demonstrate God as Love in our lives, relationships, and communities. Are we really going to encounter suffering, injustice, violence, oppression, and hegemony with an attitude and action of "this is neither right nor wrong; it simply 'is'"? To not take a stand with a resounding "no" to such atrocities in our lives, societies, and throughout the world is to neglect what Kant has called the "moral law within' (a la the Categorical Imperative). To not differentiate between right and wrong is to neglect our humanity, and to neglect our humanity is to ignore the divine within humanity. It is only through the discrimination of situations and experiences, informed by God's wisdom within, that we can move toward a world that works for all and that honors the child of God that we each are.

Sure, everything exists, but it is important for us to use our free will, moral reasoning, and spiritual wisdom in faith and understanding to discriminate between manifestations that are aligned with God the Good or ones that aren't so much, but may perhaps be used in the service of moving toward the expression of the Kingdom of God among us.

Peace.