Use Your Noggin'

WHEN DID DISCRETION die?  I am currently reading a book about law in the United States and how it no longer allows for the courts to use any type of discretion.  The author states that law is now devoid of "the one indispensable ingredient of any successful human endeavor... judgment."  In an idiot-proof world, we are taught that things are to be done by the book, and we are never taught to exercise our judgment.  Instead of children learning on their own, warning signs and directions abound.  Nothing will ever replace experience, nor will laws ever be all-encompassing.

We have all heard the expression: "the spirit of the law."  This is to say that more important than the actual wording of the law, is the intent of it.  Unfortunately this was lost in much of America's laws (which is Phillip Howard's argument), and for society as well.  Howard continues by saying "human activity can't be regulated without judgment by humans."  This is because within human beings is our God-given morality.  Although some are trying to suppress this little voice, it is still within us pressing us to be loving and compassionate.  

So important is this idea of using discretion and understanding the spirit of the law, that Christ sought to correct the understanding of the almost law-worshipping Jews of the time.  So when the Pharisees "saw some of His disciples eat bread with undefiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault."  What good is holding tradition if you do not remember why you are holding this tradition?  If you aren't asking yourself why, then you are doing it wrong; and if the answer to that "why" isn't "my salvation," then you fail again.

It has also been said that the best law is one that is complete and brief in wording.  Love the Lord God and Love your neighbor; I'd say that fits the description.