There is an advertisement on commercial television that questions why we drink beer. It seems because it is summer, we should all drink beer. This assumption comes into question when one brave person whispers to his mate that he doesn’t like beer anymore.
It seems the whisper is heard by all the drinkers and a hush falls over the crowd because the sign on the wall tells us it is summer and we all should drink beer. One larger than life character stands up and proclaims, “Who made beer the boss of summer?”
The commercial pans to a bar and a promotion for a whisky based alcoholic drink offered as an alternative to beer.
I can’t help but re-enact this scenario when I consider how we go through life blindly following whatever those in charge of us tell us.
If I was to whisper to you that I don’t want to follow a particular political party anymore, I can’t imagine this would this send shock waves through our community?
Our maker decided to give us all ‘free will’. We have a conscience and generally are quite capable of making choices that affect our lives. Many of these choices will be influenced by our conscience and what we see to be right for us at the time.
So, how then does our conscience determine what is right for us and/or what might do us harm. Our conscience is constantly being manipulated by those around us, by our living and working environment and by what we have already experienced about life.
Sometimes as we watch our parents, those in government or those in authority, including leaders in our churches, we might see a contradiction in what they say as against what they do. Unfortunately, this can be most confusing and can often be the catalyst that affects our actions.
Let us be prepared to decide for ourselves what is right for us rather than just doing what the sign says.
I’m Peter Mack and that’s life.