A Matter of Ought

A Matter of Ought
by Jason Cruise

I asked him to tell me about his family. He couldn't. 

He had been told that he had brothers and sisters, but he had no idea of their whereabouts. He didn't know where his mother was living and he'd never met his father. Born in Europe's poorest country, Moldova, he was yet another forgotten child being raised in a shelter that had now become his home. He had nowhere else to go. Nowhere. 

He was at the end of the line ... at the age of 8.

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Often I get the question, "Why do you go to Moldova?" In almost every investigation of my heart the attempt to answer that question eludes me. I suppose the underlying question for every one of
us is "Why do you do anything that you do?" 

There are many things that I could do, yet there's a difference between what I could do versus what I should do. At the heart of the reason for my expeditions to Moldova is a simple answer: God told me to go. 

Since the first time they cut a record, I began following the music of this tiny Irish band who called themselves U2. In their timeless track titled "One" U2's lead singer, Bono, pleads the case, "One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should." 

It's a strange animal, this thing we call abandonment. I cannot speak about it personally for I've never
felt its attack, but I have on many occasions stood only a few feet away and watched as this animal fed on the souls of those who are defenseless. I cannot look away from it. I cannot pretend not to see it. I cannot pretend as if I am helpless to do anything about it. With Bono, I agree, I have one life and I must do what I should. 

There are times in life where I could do something, but I don't. We've all been there. When it comes to being a messenger of justice and mercy, however, it is not only something I could do, but something I should do.

You may never go to Moldova, yet that has no bearing on whether or not you are able to be a messenger of justice and mercy. You are called to justice and mercy everywhere you go. You ought to do it, and you should do it, because you are told by the God who created you to do it. 

It's a matter of the ought. Why? 

Because love demands it. 

 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of
sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

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