"Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross"

This morning I read the first half of the Introduction to "The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi" edited by Raghavan Iyer.  I read the book many years ago and have referred to it many times since.

In the first paragraph, Mr. Iyer writes about one of Gandhi's ideals of political philosophy, sarvodaya (universal uplift or the uplift of all), "treat all possessions as if they were sacred and priceless."  Then I look at my messy desk, a clutter of papers, books, computer hardware, photos, and precious mementos.  Some of it is sacred and priceless.  Too much of it is bookkeeping, or simple accumulation due to laziness or fear that I might dispose of something that I will later 'need.'

"It is only through daily moral choices and the meritorious and sagacious employment of limited resources in the social sphere that individuals sustain their inherited and acquired entitlements.  For this very reason, the divisive and dangerous notion of exclusive ownership is systematically misleading and, at worst, a specious and subtle form of violence."

"Daily moral choices" - I'm not good at this.  It sounds like hard work.  I guess that's why the Jacob's Ladder is crowded with angels climbing up and down - to help me with the choices.

"He (Gandhi) translated his painful insights into daily acts of tapas - self-chosen spiritual exercises and the repeated renewal of lifelong meditation in the midst of his fervent social activity."

Does this mean that every scrap of paper is a moral choice?  Every television show I watch?  Every web site I visit?  Every choice is a moral choice.

I have a long way to go.