A Way of Life
Actions not speeches declare the content of a soul. My actions, my way of life has followed a template, on balance, of the decent civilized man. This is not to say that I am decent in any deep and moral sense. Rather it means that I can check some boxes on a list of things associated with being civilized and decent. I have worked in a respectable career—as our society counts respect; have earned money, by which to house my family; raised (or supported my wife’s raising of) civil children; funded some people in charitable work. I think I’ve tried, and know I’ve fallen short, to do what Jesus and the Apostles taught. But in the end, I see myself as having a basic civilized decency. I have tried to repent of my secret sins and weaknesses; tried not to be a slave to my appetites, but with weak, inconsistent effort. What, in short, is this way of life? If I have accomplished anything, about the best I can say is, I’ve fulfilled my father’s way, which is to live and let l