“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” (from Self-Reliance, Ralph Waldo Emerson).
An
oft omitted word in the above quotation is the word “foolish.”
This is a very important qualifier. For wise consistency is the
bread of life and a key discipline of love. Sadly, its absence can
be seen manifested in children. Rather than being centered and
undergirded by a sense of inner tranquility and peace, consistency
starved children are characterized by agitation and a generalized,
ill-defined and neurotic discontent. One of love's most important
disciplines therefore is to provide a wise and nurturing environment
characterized by consistency. Closely allied with consistency is
stability. When these are absent in the streets it becomes a
blighted society and informal associations are formed to provide some
semblance of them such as store-front churches or, more negatively,
gangs. The consistency provided by love is by nature a very
personal product and it is well-neigh impossible to meet the problem
of its lack with imposed propagations of bureaucracy. There is a
saying that all politics is local—meaning in part that it requires
personal connection. Meeting the inner need for peace requires
personal connection. This means it is a labor intensive task for the
closer one can get to one-on-one relationships the better. Criminal
rehabilitation, for example, depends most essentially on cultivating
self-reliance and self-discipline. These are not the dry products of
program instruction but instead the fruit of loving relationships.
So, an effective approach to prison reform will have the ingredient
of personal warmth rather than institutional coldness. Since the
necessary financial investment will likely not be forthcoming, a
successful program will include a substantial recruitment of
volunteers. This will be fortuitous since volunteerism arises from
generosity and love – precisely the thing most effective and called
for in the implementation of tranquility.
Church In The Wildwood sung by Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Robert Emhardt
