The speed of changes in our globalized world seems faster than the speed of light. My mind and my whole being cannot travel so fast… as the events and situations and challenges and questions swirl around us. I suspect I am not the only one who feels like the whirlpool is getting stronger and harder to resist. Like a scene from the “Pirates of the Caribbean”…

One of the main problems of our times is undeveloped, weak or confused conscience. We cannot reap where we have not sown. Which means that if we have not constantly cultivated and cared for our conscience, we cannot expect any good fruit. Especially now.

Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize because he was known as a man of conscience. He said, “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.” Also Lev Tolstoy challenged his fellow Russians and all of us, by writing, “The changes in our life must come from the impossibility to live otherwise than according to the demands of our conscience not from our mental resolution to try a new form of life.”

We know that the life styles of the privileged have become unsustainable; conflicts because of power and resources are repeating; suffering of the underprivileged is continuing; the damage of our environment seems irreversible; the lack of good leadership is undeniable… Many years ago the British band “Genesis” were singing, “There’s too many men…Too many people… Making too many problems… And not much love to go round… Can’t you see… This is a land of confusion” Well, the wise king Solomon already said that there is nothing new under the sun.

Therefore my thoughts on conscience is nothing new either. I believe that conscience is a God-given instrument and without it life is impossible. It has rights and it has duties (J.H.Newman) but how do we care for our conscience? If we believe that we are the only true judges of our conscience, than we are in grave danger. I know how deceiving and corrupt my heart can be. I know how to quiet my conscience and I have done it many times. I need a higher judge than myself. I need God.

I conscientiously object selfishness, confusion, greed and indifference not because of personal moral integrity but because I believe in a higher law.

Many people are concerned and anxious about the infringement on our privacy. You know, the Big Brother is trying to watch us. But I believe that I am already living under 24/7 ‘surveillance’. I have rights and I have duties because I am created in God’s image and He has given me dignity and worth. And He has given me my conscience as the best instrument for living with dignity.