It's been over 20 years since I saw A Few Good Men, but I will never forget a line from that movie. No, it's not Jack Nicholson's “You can't handle the truth!” grunt. It's what Corporal Dawson said to Private Downey when asked why they were dishonourably discharged when all they did was following orders, which had led to the death of their bunk-mate William Santiago. Dawson answered, “We were to supposed to fight for people who can't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willy.”
Everyone of us has a William Santiago in his or her life. He is the weakness that needs your strength, the ignorance that needs your intelligence, and the apathy that needs your compassion. Sometimes he is someone that you actually encounter in your life, but most of the time he lives inside you. This is the kind of ironic symmetry that I just KNOW God loves. All of the answers we need to know about things outside ourselves are found within ourselves.
This is why meditation is such an important part of life. It is the Christmas present under the tree that God leaves for us everyday. If you've ever seen a kid who just discovered how a light switch works, you know the wonderful feeling of discovering something by yourself. Why would God ever want to deprive us of this wonderful feeling by actually telling us what to do? It is so much more fun for us to find the answers ourselves.
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