Question: How do you define "moral"?

I have a question and need your help. If you care to respond, I will tabulate and share with all who participate.
How do YOU define moral? I know what the dictionary says: relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior, conforming to a standard of right behavior, sanctioned by one's conscience or ethical judgment. But how do you "know" what is right?
Some textbooks divide actions into moral, immoral, and amoral categories. I agree that 2 + 2 = 4 is amoral, but I am sympathetic with Kierkegaard's insistence that all decisions/actions are either moral or immoral. What do you think?
Textbooks also teach that actions/decisions are moral based on (1) principles regardless of consequencies or (2) determined by the consequencies of the action. With regard to #1 for example, it is wrong (immoral) to lie, despite the consequences. With regard to #2, the morality of the decision/action is determined by the consequences. For example you are hiding Jews in your attic and the Gestapo asks you if you are hiding Jews. You answer that you are not (lieing). Many of us would say this decision/action is moral based on consequences.
But there is a fundamental, prior question. How do YOU determine/decide the values you will use in making moral decisions? There are more options than I have time or space to identify. Brief list: religious/revelation; rational (Kant's Categorical Imperative); utilitarian; hedonistic; legalistic etc etc.
Example and this is not a political question: when it comes to healthcare, do we make our decision on the basis of human need, religious principles, or monetary reality? I think all make compelling cases, but how do I decide what is the "moral" decision? and does one have to be right and all others wrong?
When I have chosen my moral frame of reference, there is the challenge of moral judgment, how do I make a moral decision about anything? That is a question for later.
I hope you will join the discussion. Peace.

I have a choice.

I have a choice, everyday in everyway.
The world is full of hatred from person on person to party on party to nation on nation. The end of hatred is separation and a failure to recognize the potential good in the face of those I disagree with. Hatred leads to failing to accept the things we have in common and seeking the common good we yearn for. Hatred ends in demonizing others creating barriers to love and compassion. I have a choice to contribute to the chaos and confusion or to say and live a better way.
The world is full of anger and fear between races and religions and ideologies. Anger leads to name calling and stereotyping and "deafness" that prevents me from listening to those I disagree with and refusing to consider the possibility that they are well-meaning as well and desire many shared values that our anger has prevented us from clarifying. I have a choice to contribute to the chaos and confusion or to say and live a better way.
The world is full of violence and people whose first and only answer is the forceful, hostile imposition of their narrow, destructive perspective on all who offer alternatives. Many times this violence is perpetrated by so called religious people condoning their hostility in the name of their god. Sometimes they are honest enough to recognize their actions have no religious justification. I have a choice to contribute to the chaos and confusion or to say and live a better way.
Ignorance, hatred, anger, and violence end in the disintegration of social fabric, the common good, and a higher human purpose and goal. I have a choice to contribute to the chaos and confusion or to say and live a better way.
Martin Luther King Jr said the life worth living is the life lived in service to others. I think it was Mother Theresa who said we are not called to succeed, only to serve. No one said it would be easy!

Baseball: the apex of human evolution

Baseball is the greatest invention in the history of homosapiensapiens.It is the greatest metaphor for life yet contrived by the human mind. It embodies the myth of the eternal return. It challenges individual excellence and communnal cooperation while holding out the promise of victory and acceptance of defeat. It is as real as it gets!
Just think. We prepare (gestation) for the big game (life) under the watchful eye of the coach (mother and father). We enter the stadium as a team/community. We sit together on the bench waiting our turn to make our individual contribution for the good of the cause. We step to the plate (home base, safety, warmth of the womb, arms of loved ones) with one objective: round the bases and return home adding to the team score. Sometimes we get a pass (walk) and sometimes we fail (strike out). Sometimes we get a base hit and progress through the journey. Sometimes our trip is cut short. We get to first, advance to second, round third, and head home. There are no guarantees and there are plenty of obstacles standing in our way, such as a hostile world (good opposing pitcher, excellent fielders, poor preparation and execution on our part, you name it). But when it is all said and done, we celebrate or suffer together. Supporters and distractors can only sit and watch. We participants experience the joy or pain. Baseball asks for the best from each of us for the common good. Yes, there are winners and losers, but the game, the game goes on.
If you're interested, there is no better history than Ken Burns' documentary done for PBS. He just needs to take us into the extra innings now. A short and poetic book by Bartlett Giamatti (commissioner who banned Pete Rose and a past president of Yale) entitled A Great and Glorious Game. It is a MUST read. Allen Barra has a very intersting comparison of Mickey and Willie (I don't have to give last names for real fans)  entitled Mickey and Willie. Ron Gidrey's Driving Mr. Berra is delightful, especially for Yankee fans.
Peace to all.