Doing the right thing can mean doing the fair thing. I want to do the right and fair thing in pointing to today’s column by conservative commentator, George Will.

Earlier in 2018, I wrote a post criticizing Will. He had just penned an article about the death of Billy Graham, the famous Christian evangelist. The article was scathing. I expressed disagreement with the writing and disapppointment with the writer.

Now, just minutes ago, I read Will’s latest column. It was a tribute to Charles Krauthammer after his death the previous day. Will’s treatment of the conservative intellectual was everything his article on Baptist preacher was not—gracious, kind, reverential, tender. As the reader, I concurred on every point made about the deceased Krauthammer. Well done, Mr. Will.

I can’t help but wonder. What explains one person’s vastly different reactions to the same event in different lives? What makes for the gap?

The person likes the one and dislikes the other.

The person embraces the worldview of the one and rejects the other.

The person identifies with the one and sees the other as alien and strange.

The person attributes positive outcomes from the one and negative results from the other.

The person has a close and real connection to the one and not with the other.

I could go on, I suppose, but you get the point and can likely add more of your own.

I also wonder this—does a person who does the right and fair thing today perhaps recall a past moment where he or she had acted very differently under similar circumstances?

But that water is gone. Upstream. No getting back to it. The River has continued to run and all you can do is try to recall today when, Downstream, the water begins to look familiar again. And we’re all in that boat.