
What Am I Willing to Act On?
The good I ought to do — the good I am willing to do — doesn’t require me to be a superhero. It just requires me to make the best decisions I can, to do what’s best for as many people as possible.
The good I ought to do — the good I am willing to do — doesn’t require me to be a superhero. It just requires me to make the best decisions I can, to do what’s best for as many people as possible.
In fact, in our age of social media, 24-hour news cycles, and YouTube videos, every time we argue about something, we risk being proven wrong, being ostracized, or being targeted for our perspective. We have to weigh the risks when deciding what or with whom we are willing to argue.
At the very least, we owe it to ourselves, and the truth, to follow the story, the claim, back to its author. To ask what’s in it for them. To follow the money. To verify it against another source. To understand the context. To explore possible alternatives.
Asking questions comes with risks. Questions create defensiveness and suspicion. They come with responses we didn’t anticipate. And sometimes, they force us into seasons of silence until we can truly accept the answers.
What else must I be willing to know? The names of my neighbors? The fears of my stepsons? The opinions of my friends? The hopes of my husband? The anxiety of my parents? The needs of my community?