A few weeks ago I posted a blog titled “WWJD” where Zac proposed a different focus of importance: “What would Zac do, or WWZD?”

Then, when I saw this bumper sticker last week

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. —Ghandhi

And now, even more, I think Zac made a good point.

My son sent this to me. I couldn’t resist…

The light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.

The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.

He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell.

After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, ”I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you and cussing a blue streak at him. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday-School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, so naturally…I assumed you had stolen the car.”

I received an email that said:

“There’s a huge problem with the Law of Attraction. The problem is…it’s not working for most people and unfortunately you might be one of them. There is a lot of confusion about the Law of Attraction, what it is AND is not, and how it really works. If I asked you to explain the LOA, what would you say?”

My response:

There is not really a problem with the Law of Attraction so much as there is a problem with our understanding its meaning. It’s actually rather simple. Essentially, the Law of Attraction is: I attract to myself the things on which I focus. When I think “I am in a bad mood” then my mood is dour. When I think “I am Peace” then my life is filled with peace.

When I perform the act of resisting something, my focus is on the thing I resist. My act of focusing on that thing is what increases its attraction to me, even though my focus is in the form of resisting. In order to break the cycle of ‘What you resist persists’, I simply think about the thing (or things) I want to have in my life and choose not to think about the thing I am resisting. Simple, but maybe not so easy…

How does it work for you?

Best Regards,
David

I ask this question a lot. When I was younger I asked it even more often.

Sometimes I focused on a narrow perspective of the question like what career should I pursue, or what can I teach my kids that would be profound and meaningful. More frequently, I focused on the spiritual side of the question. Why was I born? Did my soul exist before birth? Did I choose this life? Have I lived many previous lives? What did I intend to learn this time?

Why am I here?

When I was younger I thought my primary purpose was to “be perfect” which, in my mind, had been defined as “commit no sin.” It was a narrow definition and was shaped primarily by the things I heard in church and in parochial school. When I was twenty-three I walked away from my religious beliefs, but the question persisted.

Why am I here?

In my forties, I struck up a conversation with a neighborhood pastor, and made a point of asking him how he knew that he was meant to be a minister. In that conversation, my intent was to discover which career I was intended to pursue. But he had a different idea and invited me to join him and some other folks who were studying Rick Warren’s book A Purpose Driven Life. It’s a decent book, but the study group was focused on things different from my interests. So after respectfully completing my time with that study group, I went back to the continued search for MY purpose, continuing to ask,

Why am I here?

I expected a grandiose answer. I mean, I have much to offer. I’m intelligent. I contribute to the success of our society. I work hard. I have a pleasant demeanor and a good sense of humor. I thought I was Something Special, so I expected a BIG ANSWER.

Now, however, I am beginning to think the answer is rather simple. I create a full relationship with my wife. I have good parenting skills. I generate good relationships with my sons, my family and friends. I spread cheer and joy to people I meet. I provide valuable service to my employer. I read. I ask questions. I find answers. I live a full life.

And so it seems that my soul’s purpose is this: Use this body and this mind to do exactly the things I am doing right now.

Simple as that.

(An email exchange with one of my sons…)

Me: WWJD. What does that mean? I know it’s an acronym for What Would Jesus Do, but still
I wonder what it means.

A friend told me it was a motto that reminded her to act in a manner Jesus would approve of. I don’t like the philosophy. It seems like Motivation By Guilt. “If I act a certain way, then Jesus will approve and I will be in His good graces.”

Jesus’ intention wasn’t to teach a guilt-laden philosophy. It’s not what He was all about. He was all about love. Not guilt.

Zac: I don’t have a connection with the emotion of guilt in the same way you do because I was never taught it. However I have studied the question “Is man good or evil from birth?” I believe that someone who asks WWJD strongly agrees that man is born evil and that man must constantly do good deeds for redemption… or give up and do bad deeds because it’s easier.

WWJD is an idea that clearly formed AFTER Jesus’ death. Paul and Peter both taught the concept of WWJD. Unfortunately it never fully developed into “What would Peter do?” or “What would Paul do?” It almost did but no one at the beginning of Christianity took the full leap.

“What would we do better than our predecessors?” would be a slightly better question. I can’t speak for generations past, but my generation (yours too) has asked “What would our parents do?” and then we did the opposite. The trick is to live without regret AND learn from your mistakes at the same time. What would David do now? What would David do next time? It’s not an easy skill to accept and move on to accept again.

Me: Are you saying“WWJD” is a motto of guilt — but “What Would David Do” is more like me encouraging me to live by my highest values?

Zac: If more people assumed that man was born good, more people would ask internally “What would I do?” and then act in the best possible way they know. It’s really not a question of “what is globally moral?” but a question of “what is locally (or personally) moral?” Sometimes the two will conflict and that’s okay.

I believe the real conflict comes when asking WWJD becomes a quest for global morality.

Me: That feels true! Jesus focused on the thing of the moment, taking care of his local (personal) values and look what he accomplished. His story is about someone who taught higher principles and values; who enjoyed healing the sick and lame; who performed miracles for the purpose of bringing good to peoples’ lives. He didn’t act for the purpose of fame or notoriety. He loved people and enjoyed sharing His love. His story doesn’t include, “If you don’t act the way I tell you, then I will heap guilt on you.” He simply loved.

So seriously, WWDD? …or WWZD?

Zac: Is that egotistical? Did Jesus ask “What should I do?” Jesus taught people to act like him and yet we have not had a Christian messiah since him. There have been some saints but no prophets. Ironic that it had to end with him.

Still inquisitive,
David Wine

I am a big fan of the concept of “Do The Right Thing.”

One area I see this promoted is envrionmentalism. Those folks ask me to change my behaviors in order to save our planet. Their various pleas include:

• Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
• Develop alternative energy.
• Turn the lights off when you’re not in the room.

On this blog site, I do not advocate, nor do I ridicule these ideas. This may sound preachy, but I think these themes are really a subset of a greater philosophy like: Live Wisely, or Use Your Common Sense, or Do the Right Thing.

I recently read a compelling rendition of this core value from a company that teaches its employees to:

Always Do the Right Thing. But please don’t restrict “Do the Right Thing” to only you, or to only the company. As an employee, when you do the Right Thing, include yourself, your coworkers, the company, the customer, the vendor… When you act under this set of ideas, the results of your actions to “Do the Right Thing” will respect, honor and bring abundance to both you and the company.

The business leaders of that company believe if all employees follow this code the company will achieve its greatest success.

Is this nirvana or just a load of hooey?

Consider what would happen if every day you did just one Good Thing. Just one. No pressure to live a perfect life, just simply do one Good Thing…

…and then what if you followed that up with a repeat performance the next day?

This concept was popularized recently in the movie Pay It Forward (based on a book by Catharine Hyde). Under the Pay It Forward concept, when each of us performs three good deeds in repayment of a good deed done to us, our society becomes a better place to live.

An older name for this concept is Generalized Reciprocity. Ben Franklin described it in a letter where he said: “I do not pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to you. When you meet with another honest man in similar distress, you must pay me by lending this sum to him; enjoining him to do the same….”

So when I hear, “Turn off the light, reduce-reuse-recycle, and develop alternative energy,” I say, sure, go ahead. That’s a great start. But don’t stop there. These mantras are smaller pieces of grander ideologies like Generalized Reciprocity, the more colloquial Do The Right Thing, or as I prefer – Simply Live Wisely.

With Warm Regards,
David Wine