After Bikram, I went to the post office to send off the first four boxes of books to the seminary in New Orleans. I had hoped that Katrin would help me, but she wasn’t up to coming to class. I asked Ned, but he wasn’t even staying for class. I asked Jeff, but he had to go to work right after class and didn’t have the time.
Jeff is my go-to guy for hugs. He gives great ones. I can feel Mike being joyful that I have someone who I can get comforting hugs from. I don’t know what makes his different from anyone else’s, but they are almost as good as Mike’s. Only one problem. I don’t hug back or, more importantly, send love back as I did with Mike. That’s a loss; there’s no easy fix for this one.
There was a new couple in class today. They were tourists from California, and I had the nerve to ask them if they could follow me to the post office and help me. They did. I carried in one box; the husband in the couple took in the remaining three. As I figured, the cost averaged $10 a box.
Then I went to Costco to get gas. As I expected, the line was something else. Since they were closed yesterday, all of us who needed gas now were there this morning. The line moved quickly, so it was not too much of a problem.
Kathrin has agreed to be here for a good part of the two weeks I will be away in September. I thought Elsa could stay downstairs with Josh, who will be home alone. Yvette contacted Kathrin and told her that it wouldn’t work. It would be too much stress for Josh, who works 12 hours a day these days. She also said that Elsa ignores her dogs and demands attention from the humans, leaving her dogs out in the cold. She doesn’t think it is a good mix. She’s right, but it makes me sad.
_________-_________-_________
Musings:
Brooks describes an experiment where young people are asked to describe a moral dilemma they faced. He said they had no idea. One young man came up with a situation where he pulled into a parking space and realized he didn’t have change for the meter. Brooks did not consider this a moral dilemma.
I consider myself someone who thinks about morality a lot. However, I can’t think of a moral dilemma I faced recently. I have to say, thank God.
People who research moral dilemmas use extreme situations: picture yourself at the control of a train switch, meaning you can shift a train from one track to another. The train is heading on a pathway that will result in the death of five people. You can throw the switch, so the train goes onto another track -but one man is standing there. You have to choose between doing nothing or throwing the switch and sacrificing one man’s life to save the lives of five people. How many of you have faced moral dilemmas like that in the last year? Hopefully, none of you.
The closest I can think of a moral dilemma is telling someone a painful truth or keeping my mouth shut. I will not tell someone a painful truth just to state it – I hope. (I am capable of bitter anger; in which case, I have been known to spit it out. If provoked, it takes great restraint not to.)
But is this s a moral dilemma? The question is, will I do greater good by speaking the truth or not. Well, then it becomes a practical matter. Do I feel this person is ready to learn from what I have to say, or will it just be a source of pain? If it’s just pain I’m causing, I don’t see the point. Maybe they will profit from it even if it is not the perfect moment to present it, even if it is ripped from my mouth by bitterness. But I prefer not to take that risk. I want to wait until the person can benefit from hearing what I have to say: the perfect teaching moment.
