the reason why...

is it better to do the right things for the wrong reasons?
or the wrong things for the right reasons?
...

and before plunging in,
a clear, ringing voice chimes:
what is right, what is wrong?
and when is something right or wrong?
a hush descends upon the room,
but the minds, engaged in thinking,
whirr furiously.
...

somewhere from the middle,
someone speaks, softly, uncertainly
(for only experience has proven to be her guide):
"can we do something right, guided by motivations
so contrary to its spirit,
yet not have it backfire in our faces?
or can we, led by the best intentions,
do something so wrong,
and have as its fruit,
sweet and so beautiful...?"

it would seem that she has seen something akin to this,
nay, perhaps she has lived through it.
before someone can reply, a witty and sharp reply,
intelligently amusing...
the class time is up. they file out, one by one.

and in the emptiness left behind, the words still linger,
the questions unanswered. is there an answer, indeed?

"We cannot begin to know ourselves until we can see the real reasons why we do the things we do, and we cannot be ourselves until our actions correspond to our intentions, and our intentions are appropriate to our own situation."
Thomas Merton