The writing on the wall was from a bathroom stall
Has a bit of graffiti ever stayed with you? Can you say that you learned something from the writing on the wall, even if the wall was a bathroom stall? I can. When I was an impressionable college student, using the restroom at school, and reading all sorts of drivel that people left behind, I came across this gem:
“You must have a flaming moral purpose, so that greed, oppression, and exploitation shrivel before the fire within you.”
When I read those words, not only did I commit them to memory, I also believed them. They fit in with my post-Vatican 2, social justice Catholic upbringing. I carried an over-wrought conscience, fed by my parents’ insistence that I always strive to do the right thing, in all situations. And yes, I generally felt like I knew the right thing, so the pressure was on.
At the time I believed these words came from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Later I learned they did not; they were spoken by PR Sarkar, a philosopher and guru from Calcutta, India. Not the Christian source of wisdom and righteousness I might have expected, but a Hindu teacher. In my late teens/early twenties, I walked a not-so-fine line of fidelity to Christian teachings, and finding universal truths in other religions. The question — can we find love, light, Truth, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, humanism, etc., is long settled for me. The world is infinitely more beautiful because of them.
So somehow I have carried these words forth, a full forty-two years! Over decades I have shared them with others, sometimes in a serious, sometimes in a joking sort of way. Today, however, in 2026, I am writing them down and sharing them. I am promoting them. I spoke these words to a friend at the grocery store just last week. Why? Why must I have “a flaming moral purpose?” Or why should you? Why am I spreading this thought?
I know too many people, many who are young, many who are old, who feel adrift in this world. Twenty-somethings wonder about climate change, observable to themselves during their short time here, and wonder what the world will be like when they’re forty. (Should I even have kids?) They are aghast at “adults,” older people, who can’t see this clearly, or have given up all hope. Older people, giving up the sort of hope they can act on. So many people are resigned, to bread and circuses, to potato chips and TV. We are witnessing the death of American religion (largely by its own hand, IMO). We are watching our democracy crumble, to be replaced by what? Something better? (Tell me what’s better than democracy. I bet you can’t). Oh hell, I could go on. You don’t need me to tell you what’s wrong. But let me tell you one right thing, if I can. This:
You must have a flaming moral purpose, so that greed oppression, and exploitation shrivel before the fire within you.
Yes, you.
Yes, a flaming moral purpose.
Adopt a cause. Advocate for the poor and the weak. Strive for justice. Speak up. Do a thing, any small thing. And then do another one.
Everybody needs you.
You, we, may not have the benefit of clarity as I did so many years ago. Right, wrong, good, evil, kind, cruel. Nothing is clear anymore, in a world where not even facts are recognized. Where democracy is expendable, and compassion is condemned. The collective imagination of post WWII earth, can barely recognize genocide when they see it. Never mind! Do something out of kindness and service and purpose. Let anti-racism be your cause. Fight for the right to organize. Insist on integrity from your government officials. Anything! One of my pet causes/flaming moral purposes is to refrain from judging people with whom I have sharp political opinions. I am not very good at this, but I am trying. Many of my people think I shouldn’t. I should cut others off.
Please, I beseech you. Find yourself a flaming moral purpose. Tell me and others about it, and I will tell you mine. Let us not trivialize ourselves, with these bread and circuses, with hopelessness and helplessness. Let us not side with any oppressors. In the act of doing things that are important and loving, let’s lift up others, especially those that need it most.
Liam and his dad are home. This is a big deal, and it’s a tiny start.