James continues his moral teaching about ethical behavior. What he says is truly matter for an examination of one's conscience. Three points (a la Fr. Walter Burghardt!!!): we must not level judgements against others, secondly, when the going gets rough, persevere; and, lastly, "above all, do not swear."Has anyone experienced a period in time when judgements are as abundant as they are in our times? Perhaps "talk radio" has to look at this ethical behavior. Listen each day for a week to many of the talk radio messages and the no so "hidden agendas" of the hosts! You will either become more judgemental than ever before or, on the more positive side, you will be happy that a week of torture is ended.
Perseverance is a difficult challenge today. We have become a softened people. We have become so accustomed to pushing a button to change a TV station or erase something on the computer screen. Setting up a program for personal betterment is so difficult because "stick-to-it-ness" is so challenging. We need to examine our strength again, our personal discipline. There is where perseverance becomes a reality!
Swearing has become so frequent in many conversations. Few people struggle to maintain an honest language. Who would expect a person of the first century to advise his followers "above all, do not swear"? Even our public TV stations invite watchers to remove language barriers from our efforts to live moral lives!
These three facets of a moral behavior stand as topics we might reflect upon in our lives. Most likely, no one of us has escaped from these three challenges.
