Absolute Moral Truth

In the course of my life I have had the unique privilege of meeting some truly incredible human beings from my trips abroad. Deep in one of the world’s most impoverished nations of Swaziland I met a dynamic young Muslim girl who at the age of 17 had already begun medical school at the state university. In Costa Rica I had lunch with a Hindu gentleman who welcomed us into his home and treated us like family. In Durban, South Africa I enjoyed a lively debate with a Buddhist about the afterlife and hugged him like a brother before leaving his abode. One common theme among each of them was they were all great people in spite of our vast religious differences.

 

With so many religious and non-religious views and all that exists in between how can I or anyone else even suggest that there is any absolute in moral truth? It is a big question and depending on who you are you may wrestle with the answer for the remainder of your natural life. I will however say that for me and many like me I am persuaded by the evidence I see in things like what I experienced in Pietermaritizburg, South Africa. The following is the story I was told on a street corner in the business district of Pietermaritzburg.

 

 

“The long nights were the hardest for us. I would wake up to her crying and walk into her room completely helpless already knowing there was nothing I could possibly do to relieve her pain. I would kneel next to her bed and hold her hand just to show her that I was there and she wasn’t alone. No matter how much she hurt she would always look at me and smile; no matter how many times the doctors would give us bad reports she would smile; no matter how sick she got from the medicine she would smile.

 

One day a new doctor came to see her to check her blood work and noticed her countenance. The doctor asked her why she was so happy and without missing a beat she replied, “Because Jesus loves me and He is holding me right now”.

 

The doctor was stunned speechless; she left the room without saying a word.

 

On the night of her bone marrow transfusion she asked me to pray. Not for her, not that she would be healed, this 7 year old little girl asked me to pray for the doctors; to pray that they too would know Jesus someday. I adore her, she’s my light, she’s my life, she is the reason I have still have faith in God, and her memory will live on in the lives of those she touched around her.”

 

We all wept bitterly as we hugged the father and thanked him for sharing his incredible story with us. I met James Frank on the corner of a busy street with the intention of talking to him about my faith; what I didn’t know if he would show me a new facet of mine. The story of Ruth Frank has special meaning now as a father, this is however so much more than just a sad story with the intention of proving a point.

 

Morality is not discovered with the sole intention of proving errors or injustice, but rather to direct us to the beautiful; to life. Without moral truth in our lives the idea of hope, love, and joy are completely devoid of meaning. So then what does it mean to live life; a life truly lived in pursuit of the beautiful and the good?

 

A man and his wife near their 80’s as they continue to support their families through love and action. This man and wife have raised many children who all now have their own children and have all done well for themselves. They are loved and adored by their family and by everyone around them. Their entire lives have been marked by sacrifice and a deep love for their families. At the age of almost 80 these two great grandparents see a great need, realize what’s at stake, and make a decision.

 

They are adopting two little children.

 

Not only do they adopt these two children, but they raise them as their own. They teach them right from wrong; they show them what it means to be responsible God fearing people. They stay up late with them when they are sick, they pick them up when they fall.  They do everything they didn’t have to do, but chose to do anyway.

 

My Grandfather Ernest Zavala and Grandmother Carmen Maestes at the age of 80 years old are example to me and to everyone of what it means to truly live life. At a time where their lives should be free from the constraints of parenting, they willfully chose to respond to a need and changed the course of these children’s lives forever. 

 

My grandparents continue to live a legacy and without regard for their own well being. You will never spend a moment in their presence without seeing their resolute decision to do what is right. There is no debate. For them there was no choice, because to do the right thing was by far the only thing that truly mattered. Those children now are shining examples of what good parents want their children to be. Now you tell me, is there any question that they have helped define what it means to live life?

 

In life we have the tendency to fill our time with frivolity and focus so closely on what we perceive is important at the time. We are so easily jaded by the injustices that surround us and yet if we watched closely we would see that behind it all is something we continue to miss.

 

The Beautiful. The Good. The Life we ought to be living.

 

Life is delicate and tomorrow is not promised to any of us. With all of the negative we continue to be surrounded by isn’t it about time that we stop listening and start doing? Isn’t it time we start living the life we were intended to live? We can make such an incredible difference by doing the little things like making a meal for the homeless, helping tutor the underprivileged, making a difference in the lives of our friends and family.

 

No one that matters is going to remember you for the work you did at your job. None of the money you earn goes with you when you die. The only thing that really matters is the life you lived and the person you were to those you love. Everything else is just the time in between. So ask yourself, as I do everyday, am I living a life truly lived?