And so, without a doubt, every decision comes down to a simple choice regarding the employment of our own character: Grace?
It is free, though it isn't deserved. The producer pays the consumer. And, because it is not "just" that one should receive what is not rightfully theirs, nor what should ever be theirs, we fail. We deny grace to such a degree that the undeserved act itself is deserved more than we are willing to reward it.
It isn't a battle over Love v. Hate, but rather over Something v. Nothing. We don't breed evil, but neither do we breed good. We have a choice to be boiling hot or to be simply warm- a state of being which neither kills nor debilitates the bacteria of our lives; a state of being which allows the evil around us to feed on the flesh of those who allowed its very existence. No, the choice we make to deny grace is not evil or wrong, but it allows evil and wrong to coexist amongst goodness, and is therefore not by any means "right."
We choose to pay only whatever forced gratuity that comes at dinner. A bigger tip isn't necessary, they get exactly what they "should" get. It's not about right or wrong, because it's not wrong to do the bare minimum, but we could do better. Maybe the waitress was bad, so the tip was the minimum.
What if the waitress isn't a waitress, but instead a single mom, stressed because she's 20 dollars short for her rent today. Stressed that there's no way to buy her son new shoes as his wear into nothingness. Maybe on any other day or in any other life situation she would have been a wonderful waitress, but because so many have failed to show her grace she is in the situation she is in today. And so, the question is still: Grace?
We do have a choice. Give more than we should give. Take less than we need take. Boil away the bacteria; suffocate it. 50% tips to undeserving waitresses. Money or food to the impoverished drunkard who's life is in ruin because of bad choices he himself has made. There is no place for doing what is "just" as a human being, we should never provide only what "should" be provided, because "just" is just "just."We can always go beyond what is necessary, give more than we have to, reward those who don't deserve or expect a reward, Love when hated, Love when ignored. More goes on that what we see, as the bad waitresses gets evicted, her child's feet contract diseases, the poor man takes his own life. We have a choice. Learn to Love-Grace the world.
