Common Truths For Uncommon Times, Part IV


by Richard Sem - Date: 2007-03-27 - Word Count: 371 Share This!

I created these "truths" to encourage the reader to consider what his or her truths might be. What are your truths? Who are you?

Our sense of outrage has been satiated. We can't stay at the peak level of any emotion for very long. We can only be greatly offended for so long and apathy settles in for relief. The second hundred atrocities isn't nearly as appalling as the first hundred.

There are values which span religious and political beliefs.
At least in a western democratic society. Such values include honesty, respect for life and property, esteem for elders and their wisdom, loyalty to family and community, concern for those less blessed, resistance to injustice and repression, hope for a better future, and the freedom to practice and enjoy those values. And, of course, treating others as one would want to be treated is pretty much universal. Some rules are golden and eternal.

We need more choices!
More! More! Bring 'em on! We just can't get enough! Candidates, channels, scandals, pizza toppings, self-help books, ice cream flavors. If two or four are good, then five hundred must be great!

Spiritual is not the same as emotional.
If you feel warm, moved and inspired, you probably haven't been touched spiritually. You might just have the flu. Or be constipated. A truly spiritual experience most likely won't be described so easily.

Did you ever feel like you're living in a novel?
How will the present chapter end? Who invented those characters I know as family and friends? Life's been too strange to be true so far, so it must be fiction. I wish I could skip ahead to the end to see how it all works out. Or is this peculiar to me? Are you for real, or did you invent me? Whoa, spooky stuff!

You matter.
You count for a lot. When you think the least of yourself remember the eons of generations it took to make you. Consider the millions of bacteria that depend on you for their survival. OK, forget that one. Seriously, whether you realize it or not, people do love you, someone needs you, at least a few have fond memories of you, and someone else will count on you in years to come.


Related Tags: humor, moderate, therestofus.net, dick sem, aphorisms, centrist

Dick Sem is a security and workplace violence consultant (http://www.SemSecurity.com) based in Wisconsin.

He has been married for 36 years and has two sons and two grandchildren. He graduated from Marquette University.

Dick grew up in a conservative, Republican family but, especially in recent decades, realized that his beliefs spanned both conservative and liberal positions, making him a moderate. He has created his blog, http://www.therestofus.net, as a forum for those of us who are political, social or religious moderates.

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