Freedom cannot be separated from responsibility. This is an eternal truth that transcends culture, race, geo-politics, and religion.
I understood this once again as I watched the crisis unfolding in Libya; from the protesters risking their lives in the streets of Tripoli, to the Libyan pilots refusing to follow orders to bomb their own people, to the Libyan Ambassador to the United Nations denouncing the madman who has held Libya captive for far too long.
To be fully human, to choose life, we must recognize that we are free. And that in our freedom we must be able to respond well....to respond in ways that support the dignity and worth of self and others.
The protesters, the pilots, and the ambassador are heroic examples, no doubt. I am inspired by them, I celebrate them, and I pray for them. But the greatest revolutions, the most profound battles, are not captured on television.
The virtuous life, the life grounded in freedom and responsibility, is won or lost in a thousand little "wars" every day. In the home and at work, in the classroom and on the playground, in emails and in texts; we are free to choose truth or lies, kindness or callousness, generosity or selfishness...peace or violence. And our consciences tell us that we must answer, sooner or later, for the choices we make.
God help those who struggle tonight in the Middle East, and God help the rest of us as well.
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About Me
- Ross Porter
- Dr. Ross Porter received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Master of Divinity (Theology) and Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary, where he first became interested in the integration of psychology and spirituality. He is a teacher, author, counselor, and consultant, specializing in integrative psychology, virtue ethics and family systems. He has taught at the high school, college, and graduate school levels. Ross is also the Founder and Executive Director of Stillpoint Family Resources, a non-profit organization that offers counseling services to individuals, couples, and families in crisis, with nine different office locations throughout Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange Counties (specific office locations can be found at www.stillpointfamilyresources.org). In 2009, Dr. Porter was named an “Outstanding Angeleno” by the Los Angeles Daily News. Ross and his wife Jennifer have been married for 21 years, and have four beautiful children. John Michael, their son who has Down Syndrome is their first born.
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