The Golden Resolution

     A New Year. Certainly. A New World? That's up to us.

     This year, we need to make a couple of New Year's resolutions; to the planet, and to each other. This isn't about saying we're going to jog a mile every day or eat healthier. I'm all for self improvement. In fact, I'm going to jog a little way once in a while and eat more salad with my poutine.  However, as laudable as those goals are, there's something more.

       Our planet is in a state of transition, environmentally and culturally. The events that give evidence to this have become so numerous and so obvious that they could be recited like their own fast food jingle. We have global warming, political upheaval, avian flu, religious extremism. Would you like to supersize that with a side of terrorism, famine, or genocide? We have several varieties of each.

     The question is not whether or not these problems are real. The question is how we will respond to them. We could let ourselves believe that we really can't do anything anyway. After all, the Bible, especially the Book of Revelations, predicts all of these calamities and more.  In fact, in Matthew it sounds like these things have to happen before Christ's return. If that's the case, last year's tsunami, Iraq, Katrina, and the shrinking polar ice cap are good things. We need more of them.

     Of course, that point of view is also kind of like standing on a railroad track and saying that you're going to get run over. Well, yes. And please don't point out that you could take a few steps to either side and avoid that fate. Everybody needs a self-fulfilling prophecy now and again.

     Given all of the political bickering that goes on at international conferences like the World Trade Organization's recent gathering, or the intransigence of countries like the US and Australia when it comes to Kyoto, perhaps that's the only kind of prophecy we deserve.

     However, one of the reasons that religion has never ceased to be part of humanity's makeup is that it also offers us hope. Underlying all of our assorted rules and rituals is a single universal principle. It's a principle that's present in all of the world's religions. It has been espoused by philosophers as far back as we have records of philosophers espousing. And it forms the basis of the secular moral codes that we value.

     In Christianity, it's called the Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

     We're not very good at it.

     If we were, those negotiators at the WTO would find ways for farmers in poor nations to sell us produce while still supporting the family farmer next door. And we wouldn't treat holes in the ozone layer as marketing opportunities for sunscreen.

     On a personal level, we wouldn't pretend that we didn't see injustice. In fact, we wouldn't accept injustice of any kind, in our community, on our street, or in our homes.

     The Golden Rule. It sounds easy, and obvious. It's neither. It takes work.

     So let's start off slow. This year, let's make just one small resolution. Let's resolve that once a day (just once), we will consciously ask ourselves if the statement we're about to make fits the philosophy of the Golden Rule. We can call it the Golden Rule Test.

     It doesn't matter what the statement is about. A cynical comment to your neighbour; a sarcastic comeback to your teenager; a criticism of your partner's habitual behaviour. Whatever. We'll just resolve that, once a day, we'll pause before we open our mouth.

     Let's pass the Golden Rule Test. Just once a day. It’s a start.