What is right?

I have always been fascinated by the question: What is the right thing to do? Who or what defines "rightness"? How can we know? Is there a "rightness" for all situations? Of course, there is a huge area of study concerning ethics but practically speaking, what does it mean to do the right thing in our day to day existence? 

Ian Provan wrote a book titled Seeking What is Right - The Old Testament and the Good Life. In biblical faith, Ian writes, "good" means "being like God in character and action"; its synonym is "holy". Doing what is right is often tied to our desire to a good life. However, when we think of "good", we imagine material wealth, physical health, justice and peace, etc. But that is not the biblical view of a good life. Life is also too complicated and unpredictable that doing the right thing often has little or no correlation even with a secular worldview of a good life here on earth. As Christians, we must hold on to the promises that there will be blessings and rewards, but for here and now, we may need to adjust our expectations!

The movie Everything Everywhere All at Once offers another perspective of what being right means. "Right is a small box invented by people who are afraid." When we are so concerned about doing the right thing, we can feel like being squeezed into a small box or walking on eggshells. We all have our own "Jobu Tupaki" although sometimes we can't even name it properly! (When Evelyn in the movie eventually can name it properly, she can then fight it!) We can let rules and let the "should" voices in our head dictate our lives. This can be taxing because doing rightly often involves struggles, assertions of our rights, and fights which are some of the running motifs in the movie and perhaps why Michelle was chosen to show off her Kung Fu skills!

But how long can one endure in our struggles and fights? In the movie, one can jump from one universe to another to acquire the best skills to keep fighting. But like Alpha Waymond, it is exhausting and he eventually dies! So, what is a better strategy? "I just talked to her." We fight because we are scared and confused. "When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naïve. It is strategic and necessary", says CEO Waymond. Perhaps sometimes we need to look at the good side of things even in the face of evil. The movie does not tell us how to live rightly. The Scripture provides a much more comprehensive answer although the movie speaks powerfully about the futility of eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, about being kind to one another, turning the other cheek, returning good for evil, etc.