Moral dilemmas and mass excursions

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I did see a doctor.  I never made an appointment.  She joined us for a cup of coffee.  I like her.  She reminds me a bit of my sister.  She is a friend of a friend.  She is a GP.  I took the opportunity to ask her medical expertise.  If it is a gastric flu or food poisoning, it should blow over in 2 - 3 days, she said.  Thank You, God, for sending her my way today.  

I had a moral dilemma today.  I feel no closer to having solved it than three hours ago, when I received it.   That is often what moral dilemmas are like.  At first you react strongly, but keep quiet out of fear for reacting without thinking.  Then you think about it and try to justify your feelings.  Then you get confused with different kinds of messages you are receiving, and then you ask others for advice.  After being completely and totally muddled up, you start reasoning it out, writing down the arguments in your head.  But reason is not enough to convince you, or rather to direct you.  Moral reasoning is, after all, about making a decision that will lead to action which is good for all parties concerned.  

I am reminded of C.S. Lewis' analogy of the convoy of ships on a voyage.  It is important not to bump into the ship before and behind you.  Hurting someone else is not acceptable.  But furthermore, each ship has to ensure that its engine is running well so that it won't eventually spin out.  Things can go well for only so long before a combusted engine affects the convoy.  And thirdly, as regards morality, the ships have to land at the right destination.  If they planned to go to Dover, they will not have achieved their aim if they arrived in Calais.  Staying on course is the whole aim of the voyage, or else it would not have started.  Best we remember where we are heading in life.  To what end?



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