Introduction

It’s important to take stock of your life – all the time. It’s easier if you know who you are and what you want out of life.

From an early age, I found the heart of Jesus and the pageantry of his Church very compelling. I liked the way they worked together with reverence and humility. I liked the way they made me feel.

These images drew out of me an abiding sense of the need for moral clarity. They spoke to me in words and ideas that could be searched, probed and tested endlessly. They have provided a well of hope and strength in me that has not run dry.

Moral clarity requires a maker. The self is inadequate to the task. The moral fields created by each and every self would conflict endlessly. We see that clearly in the world today. The self is biased toward the self and is limited in experience, wisdom and intellect. It is a poor source of a moral clarity that must be based on truth and the general good to be effective and accepted. Thus moral clarity, truth and the general good are all woven together at the source. They are intended to be the vestments of the Church in its celebration of the heart of Jesus.

The world is our classroom. If we are paying attention, there are many lessons to be learned – for the subject of truth is very large indeed. Truth must be learned in small bits and can never be fully realized. One day I learned the truth a 7 or 8 year old could learn.

I was a young student in 2^nd or 3^rd grade. Sitting at my desk, there were classmates tightly packed all around me sitting at theirs. While a lesson was being taught, the whispered chit-chat and semi-quiet interplay were going on around the room as they usually did. Behind my back, written notes were being passed by two busy girls about every 3 minutes. In the row in front of me, the girl directly before me stood up for reasons I do not recall. Perhaps she was addressing the teacher, but, in any event, she was looking forward.

Naturally, my gaze was directed towards her as she stood. In anticipation of her bottom returning to her seat, the opportunistic boy seated to her right, placed a tack on her chair. Including this mischievous boy, there may have been 5 of us who were aware of what was about to happen. Truly a moment of truth was about to erupt.

Pranks are often funny. This one could be too. At that moment in time, however, it presented itself to my young mind as a moral dilemma. Do I let the good times roll and enjoy some laughter with the class or do I prevent some shock and embarrassment for a fellow classmate targeted as a victim.

This moment in time, though now unremembered by the world, probably lasted no more than 3-5 seconds. In those fleeting moments, I had to consider and weigh all of the different aspects of this problem that my young mind could conceive. Was the chain of events about to unfold really that funny? – or that hurtful? How will she react? How upsetting might it be? If I remove the tack, what will happen to me? Will I be ostracized, shunned, targeted for my insolence? Am I even supposed to worry about any of this when I am trying to decide between right and wrong?

Certainly this could have been dissected even further, but I can’t imagine much else could have come to mind in those few moments. All I remember in the end was seeing the girl standing in front of me and the tack on her chair.

With the dominoes ready to fall, my child-like deliberations brought me to a conclusion in the allotted time. I removed the tack. Though I deprived the world of shock, excitement and laughter, I felt the better for it.

Not all moral dilemmas are so easy to resolve, but they are never inconsequential. Though no one else remembers that day, it is memorialized somewhere in me along with thousands of other markers leading me to where and who I am.

Life without purpose is a sadness that can’t be overcome. My purpose is to discover who I am and utilize the skills and talents given to me by God. My purpose is to enjoy the time and space I am in with gratitude and awe. My hope is to find God in the image of everyone I meet and serve Him there.

But, the routine of our days is a constant anchor on the dreams we have made. The world itself speaks of nothing. It is a magicians sleight of hand; a general’s feint. Hidden away in the heart of Jesus and celebrated too quietly in the Church is that which I love and live for.

In furtherance thereof, I have written a book. It is a book about God and His creation. It asks why He created a world with so much pain and suffering. It searches hard for the truth. It is also a book about each of us and how we understand our humanity. So, at times, I call myself an author.

At other times, I am also a lawyer, a proud father of 3 wonderful children, a son, a brother, an uncle, a grandfather and a friend. I am also an optimist with a competitive nature. I am an analytical thinker, a confidant, a counselor and coach. I have a quiet strength. I am a lover of good humor and all that is beautiful and good. These are some of my roles and attributes. They are with me on my journey to the dreams I have made.