The course of the righteous is like morning light, growing brighter till it is broad day.
Proverbs 4.18

Those who are righteous are just in their dealings, upright in their response to temptation, virtuous in their behaviour, and law-abiding in their relationships with their fellows and with society as a whole. Righteousness is the peak and end of civilized behaviour. It brings order to a situation that could easily drift into chaos, as it draws light into the dark recesses of the human psyche no less than into the state of affairs of communities and nations.

It is important to distinguish between the righteousness of God and the self-righteousness of inflated people who cannot see beyond the façade they have constructed and the pit of corruption that lies within the psyche. The self-righteous person, typified by the Pharisee in the famous parable of Luke 18.9-14, is so sure of his or her own excellence that there is a constant tendency to look down on other people. In fact, the virtuousness is an imposing front rather than a solid structure, and behind it lies a pit of corruption which looks for rewards and praise to fill it. The truly righteous person is so full of the presence of God that his or her less strong qualities are lit up and exposed to the undemanding love of God, in whom alone healing may be attained.

It is important to recognize the breeding places of impurity and disease that lurk in the body and especially in the psyche of us all. They are conveniently summed up in the "Seven Deadly Sins": pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth: It is a useful exercise, at the ending of the day, to check our inventory of deeds against this formidable array, not so much in an attitude of fierce self-accusation as in one of tolerant humour. Most of us are like Peter, James and John with Jesus at Gethsemane: we mean well, but the flesh lets us down. Apart from the obvious sins of the body and mind defined above, there is also the constant temptation to align ourselves to the mode of thinking of our peers, even when we know that we disagree with them but have not the courage to take a firm stand on an important issue. The temptation to let things drift while we choose the quiet life can be far more terrible in its ultimate consequences than any of the conventional deadly sins. I often remember Charles Péguy, a prophetic French Catholic who fought racial and social injustice at the end of the last century and was killed early in the First World War in defence of his country. He wrote, in Basic Verities, that the worst of all partialities is to withhold oneself, the worst ignorance is not to act, the worst lie to steal away. He also wrote that the social revolution will be moral, or it will not be. It is hardly surprising that the world still awaits this revolution, despite the many that have been proclaimed in its name.

In other words, our actions have to be balanced against such personal sins as anger, covetousness, envy and lust no matter how passionately we may feel about the causes that animate us. On the other hand, we should not let tolerance and discretion slide insidiously into sloth. Nor should we be so sure of our own rectitude that we cannot receive adverse criticism; otherwise pride, the cardinal sin, will take root and certainly lead us to destruction. And the senses should always be controlled by the spirit, lest their undisciplined satisfaction end in a gluttony that obliterates all finer feelings and leads to bodily and mental disease. When we have our own house in order, we can see and respond to the divine light which encompasses all creation. And then our passage through life illuminates the way of those who follow, as they glorify God (Matt. 5.16).

Give me, Lord, the wisdom to see my failings, the humility to work towards their healing, and the courage to stand out for what I believe to be true, even when all human support is withdrawn and I have only the silence as friend.