The Book of Ten Sayings 7

The seventh entry in the Book of Ten Sayings might appear to be simple, but it actually counsels us to deep and ongoing thought, thorough and penetrating analysis. The saying is, 

"Look to the end." 

1. "Look to the end" is a reminder that whenever we have a decision to make, we must look to the overall goal or purpose. Asking, "Why are we doing this?" can save money, reputation, health, and even life. Asking, "Why should I want to do this?"--that is, asking the question before you engage in the action, can be even more valuable. 

2. "Look to the end" reminds us that our lives here on this planet have expiration dates, and considering the sum total of our input and output should help us organize all of the major (and many of the minor) tasks of life. 

 3. "Look to the end" encourages us to think about the effects the idea or plan or activity will have on other people. 

4. "Look to the end" stimulates us to ask, "And then what?" What will happen after the idea or activity is first acted on? And then what? Just what are the consequences? This saying is one of the most powerful because we notice that many people draw conclusions or make decisions based on the single effect deriving from the chosen solution. Cause, effect. But a little investigation often reveals that what we would really have is Cause, Effect, Effect, Effect, Effect, Effect. Many of these effects were not foreseen after only a shallow analysis was given to idea or decision. 

5. "Look to the end" is fundamentally a call to think about the long term consequences of decisions or proposed actions. Short term effects, even when not filtered by hopeful thinking, nearly always look great. But what about next year or next decade?

6. And of course, "Look to the end" is whispered in our minds as we are encouraged to contemplate not only our life plan but our death plan. It is said that your view of death determines how you live. If you think that your life or earthly existence ends with your death, you will likely live for yourself, but if you think that your life, your soul or spirit, continues after you check out of  Motel Earth, then you will likely learn to live and choose with the benefit of others in mind. 

 And here is the cosmic irony: Selfish people tend to be much less happy than unselfish people. Selfish people spend their time trying to maximize their own happiness. As a consequence, they see others as means to that end. They exploit and use others to get what they think will benefit them most. And when they recognize that they are not happy, they soon they embark on the spiral down to misery. "Being selfish hasn't made me happy, " they they think, "so what I need is to be a lot more selfish." As the teenagers say, "Yeah, like that's gonna work."

Being circumspect (circum=around, spect=looking) means that we should examine our position and know where we stand--that is, how and why we include the values in our personal set of beliefs. "What do I stand for, what do I truly value, and do my words and behavior reflect that?" 

Implied in this saying is the Christian virtue of Hope, one of the seven Christian virtues, and the classical virtue of Prudence (also known as Wisdom).