It is always interesting to hear the rationale of we humans when we err. One recalled his uncle’s quip. “My Uncle Bill, whenever he cut a joint in woodworking that didn’t quite fit as it should, would say. “You’d never see that from a galloping horse.” Justification for wrongdoing or sloppy work reaches genius like exclamations as well as proportions. As long as there are justifications and rationale as genius as we see among us every day there will never be much reason to improve or even repent. Cover up is much less embarrassing than is an honest confession. Justification for errors can extend to volumes, volumes that include stories, poems, cursing and downright lies. But, it always seems that truth prevails and in the end the purveyor of untruths always confesses or is in some way exposed.
Every time we read of or hear of a car wreck, a plane wreck, or a train wreck, an investigation is already in place to determine fault. Was it the fault of the machine or the weather or was it the fault of the operator? Even if it were the fault of the machine, the builder of the machine will be identified and be expected to pay compensation. Oh! rational, what a wonderful ‘scapegoat’ for humanity.
In Old Testament times a goat represented our modern rationale, an innocent goat, would be sent into the wilderness with all of the guilt of Israel, this to appease the people’s guilt. Of course the goat would be killed by wild animals for food. Thus the sins and guilt of Israel would disappear with it. I suppose we could use the term ‘goat’ instead of rationale in our day. Nobody wants to take the responsibility for errors, The company president blames the vice president, the vice president blames the foreman and the foreman blames the poor, sweat stained line worker. He may go home and take it out on his wife or children. Rationale will always be a part of our society, “That’s good enough for the Anderson’s or “You’d never see that from a galloping horse.” Rationale is a part of our society, just as much so as pumpkin pie and ice cream sundaes. I have always loved the poetry of the plain man’s poet, Edgar A. Guest. He wrote:
“Good Enough”
My son, beware of “good enough,” It isn’t made of sterling stuff;
It’s something any man can do,
It marks the many from the few, It has not merit to the eye,
It’s something any man can buy,
It’s name is but a sham and bluff, For it is never “good enough.”
With “good enough” the shirkers stop In every factory and shop;
With “good enough” the failures rest
And lose to men who give their best;
With “good enough” the car breaks down And men fall short of high renown.
My son, remember and be wise
In “good enough” disaster lies.
With “good enough” have ships been wrecked, The forward march of armies checked,
Great buildings burned and fortunes lost;
Nor can the world compute the cost In life and money it has paid
Because at “good enough” men stayed. Who stops at “good enough” shall find Success has left him far behind.
There is no “good enough” that’s short Of what you can do and ought.
The flaw which may escape the eye And temporarily get by,
Shall weaken under the strain And wreck the ship or car or train. For this is true of men and stuff— Only the best is “good enough.”
I believe it would be very difficult to beat the rationale of “good enough.”
Then there is the rationale of justification as opposed to covering up what has been done or explaining away what we might do or have already done. For example there is a story about the man who was walking in the city, when he was interrupted by a particularly dirty and shabby looking man who asked for a couple of dollars to get something to eat. The man took out his wallet, extracted two dollars and asked. “If I give you this money will you take it and buy whiskey?” No! I stopped drinking years ago.”The bum said. “Will you use it to gamble’? “I don’t gamble. I need everything I can get just to stay alive.” The man said , “Well, I’m not going to give you the two dollars. Instead I’m going to take you to my home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife.” The bum was astounded. “Won’t your wife be furious if you do that? I’m dirty and probably smell bad.”The man replied, “Hey, man, thats OK! I just want her to see what a man looks like who’s given up drinking and gambling!” That bum will be his rational/justification to continue drinking and gambling.
The most positive form of rational, is being ‘rational.’ That is to think through everything you do in a rational way. Don’t ‘Jump before you leap,’ think through things carefully and those who do that are bound to have fewer accidents and fewer problems in their life. For example; A really huge, mean looking guy walks up to a department store counter and asks, “W-w-where’s the m-m- men’s dep-p-partment?” The clerk behind the counter just looks at him. The man repeats himself: “W-w-where’s the m-m-men’s dep-p-partment?” Again the clerk doesn’t answer him. “Wh-wh- what kind of lou-lousy s-ser-service is this?” the big guy demands, and storms off. The next customer in line steps up and asks the clerk, “Why wouldn’t you answer that guy’s question?” The clerk’s answer was, “Do you th-th-think I w-wa-want to get m-my b-b- butt kicked?!” That too was a positive rationale.
Rational has many facets and is a process/part of life that we all indulge in. Success in life will be more closely associated with this last type of rational, “Good enough” is only good enough when ‘it is good enough.’
But as we seek to be good and have a desire to improve our lives, we must not let weaknesses discourage us nor can we let our flaws cause us to lose hope. Becoming good means becoming better not becoming perfect. Perfect may happen but not in this life.