In the
 Catholic Peace Weekly, an article starts with a four-letter phrase in 
the writings of Lao-tzu,  Tao Te Ching: 上善若水 (highest good like water). Water never brings attention to itself and always seeks the
 lowest places and nourishes everything on the way. To live in this way 
is to be close to saintliness. Its opposite is to live contrary to right
 reason and rashly.
 
The writer lists two recent cases that make him appreciate the wisdom of the 
four words that begins his article. One case a person in a 
government post was arrested but shortly after with a change of judges 
the person arrested was released because there wasn't sufficient reason 
for the arrest. Many citizens questioned the difference in the way the 
law was read. Many in the legislature censured the judge.
 
The
 second case mentioned is the signatures of 200,000 citizens on the Blue
 House bulletin board, asking for the abrogation of the law against 
abortion. You have a highly contested issue: those who strongly feel 
you are killing a fetus and you have the others saying it's against
 the right a woman has over her body. A new aspect entered the picture 
when the Blue House representative of the people mentioned the problems 
with the issue.
 
All
 these events occurred naturally but it is not right for the 
legislative branch of government to censure the judicial or 
the executive to control the direction of legislation. Law, the compulsory
 code of the state is not different from the law of water. Western 
natural law thinking and ordinary law both seek the source of law in our
 natural life and in Asia the very word law  is an icon of 
water seeking harmony.
 
Our
 understanding of the law is that when we have a wrong law we follow 
procedures to revise or abolish the law. All the citizens have the right
 to express their opinion. However, on the principle of the separation 
of powers, the legislative, executive and judicial should not exceed the
 conduct that is given to them in their office. The democratic system 
collapses if the legislature disputes the interpretation of the law by 
the judiciary of if the executive forces their view on the legislature.
 
Man
 is an imperfect being and even if I am convinced I am right I may be 
wrong. The natural flow of water we should imitate, my 
self-righteousness does not produce good results. When we seek to 
achieve justice by force the results often destroy our common sense.
 
In
 1919 lawmakers in the United States Congress passed a constitutional 
amendment that prohibited the production of alcoholic beverages in the 
United States. This made thousands of Americans outlaws until abolished 
in 1933. As a result the ban has remained synonymous with excessive 
reforms that have caused public dissatisfaction and social disruption: the result of abandoning the wisdom learned from water. 
The writer finishes the article by saying that fortunately, our 
Christians do not fall into this foolishness because they pray that "the 
will of the Father, not my will be done" (Luke 22:42).