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One of the Cabinet wrote to me:
You’re a very compassionate person.
I replied:
As for compassion, I’m no more “compassionate” than most… I’ve simply been hurt by the self-righteous, and I know how it feels. Indeed, some things in my life opened my eyes as to the ignorance and nastiness of the right. After all… why defend ignorance? I may be a believer, but I don’t defend obscurantism, nor do I say that evil is good to suck up to priests…
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I do my best to be “straight” with all concerned… in that way, I can stay “honest to God”. I’d say that you need two things in life:
- You “gotta wanna”… you have to make a conscious effort to do your very best in whatever you do. That means EVERYTHING…
- You “gotta give a shit”… you have to CARE, and care deeply about what’s important in life. That doesn’t mean money or position…
That’s what you gotta do. If you do these two things, everything else falls into place. One of my sergeants once said to me, “I’m not in the shit business. I don’t give it and I don’t take it”. That is, don’t rag on other people… life’s tough enough. As for authority figures who refuse to live according to their callings and teachings… that doesn’t apply to them. If someone’s laying down a hard moral line and they refuse to live up to it themselves… they’re fair game. It’s not rocket science. Our Lord Christ didn’t die and rise from the tomb to lead us to a McMansion in the right exurban cul-de-sac, after all. Reflect on that, and act accordingly.
BMD
