I’ve written about this before – one of Becky’s favorite phrases is, “Do the next right thing.”
Recently, I heard someone add to this idea. “If you’re off course,” he said, “there’s no sense fussing about the mistakes you made that got you there. The best thing you can do is begin to steer toward the correct course.”
In other words, the mistakes of the past are in the past. Maybe, at some point, it’s worth studying what got you off course, and learning from your mistakes. But in the heat of the moment, looking back accomplishes nothing.
The best thing we can do is the next right thing.
Problem is, doing the right thing isn’t always easy.
It’s easier to sit on the sidelines and let someone else take the risk. Or – pretend we aren’t sure what the right thing really is.
We’re all familiar with the scene of Jesus kneeling in the garden, asking God if there was some other way. He did not want to endure the human torture he knew was coming.
We can sort of skate past Jesus’ horrible experience, because we know how the story turns out. But he knew how the story turns out also, and still he asked to be spared. As a fully human man, he dreaded the unimaginable pain and humiliation.
But he also knew the next right thing.
As the calendar moves toward MLK day, many of us will be reminded of Dr. King’s remarkable leadership and sacrifice. He rarely chose the easy path, teaching us by example to do the next right thing.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.