3:29 AM. I’m bored. I didn’t think I’d be this bored over Winter Break, when people are usually supposed to be having fun, etc. It’s weird—I’ve done all the usual things one does after school gets out, but I’m still sort of bored. Whatever. It’s comforting to know that I’ll be going back to school soon. I wanted to talk about something weird that happened to me tonight, though. I was driving with my father tonight to take a coat back to A&F. When we left my house, I threw something over some of the things he had in his backseat, which aggravated him. He started telling me that he didn’t want me to throw my things over his, etc., etc. He then said, and I quote,
“Now, if someone messed with your stuff, you’d throw a fit too.”
Whatever. We went to A&F and I found out that the coat I wanted in Large was sold out. Fine, we left. Much later, after we got home, I went to finalize the iPod deal I’d won on eBay, only to find that, suffice it to say—despite the contrary this morning—I no longer had the funds to do so. Naturally, I flipped. And then I thought about what my father said.
Let me get a bit personal. I’m just as religious as the next guy, alright? I hold a basic belief that there does exist a force of some kind that holds a good deal of influence over a lot that goes on everywhere. However, I’m very rational, and I can usually find explanations for most of my experiences. Yet, for some reason, I found this to be a very interesting coincidence. Bible Chapter Exodus, 20:12 states:
“Honor your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
I presume that many of you raised Christian in one capacity or another throughout your life has experienced that little pang of guilt that comes from, you know, displeasing your parents or unintentionally (or maybe intentionally, lol) insulting them in one way or another. Now, at the time, I didn’t feel guilty about throwing my stuff over my father’s things in his car—and trying to tell him afterwards why his aggravation was unwarranted—but after I saw this discrepancy, and remembered his words, I felt a bit creeped out. I wonder: does the Golden Rule (or, the Boomerang Effect) in Matthew (Do unto others as you would have others do unto you) truly apply to life? My question, of course, stems from a supposition that people usually interpret that quote as encouraging of good deeds and general goodness in life. Yet, I think that, while general definitions of good and bad seldom differ, individual and personal definitions of good and bad almost always do. My father’s definition of courtesy—something coming from a notion of good behavior towards others—given his behavior, can very well said to have induced him to react as he did. While this inevitably implies that his definition of courtesy might differ from those of many others’, it still holds true that his personal definition of courtesy likely influenced his reaction. I wonder, though, if the “Rule” applies to individual definitions of good, rather than general perceptions of good and bad. James 4:4 reads,
“Whoever shall be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.”
This implies that biblical doctrine disfavors the adoption of general, that is, popular, opinions and views on morality and life. This, then, might also suggest that popular perceptions of good and bad are, according to said doctrine, incorrect. Though the Bible does indeed say that God loves all people equally, I’m inclined to think that God would favor religious people more in his consideration of those going to heaven, hell or in-between—as, since man, according to the bible, was constructed in God’s “image”, it follows that our perceptions must be similar, however little, to His; and, since I, as a human, think this way, it follows that said perception is similar to that experienced by God. And, to anyone thinking this, I’m not saying I’m God, lol. I’m not self-absorbed or anything like that. But, really, would God favor very religious people more than less religious people? And, moreover, if said religious people were offended by someone violating their personal rules of courtesy, would the Golden Rule come into effect? Would said violation spark the activation of some karmic principle inducing reciprocal action on the violator? I don’t know. Honestly, I really never think much about religion unless I have no other way to explain something, but my dad’s statement rang true tonight. In a religious context, I wonder if the Boomerang effect applies in relation to personal definitions of good and bad rather than universal ones. In that respect, could anything that insults or negatively affects anyone have reciprocal karmic effects on the human source of said insult or negative effect? Something for spiritual readers to think about.
