Finding the Good

It's encouraging to me how much good there is in the world. Its much easier to see the bad. Most people are experts at seeing what's wrong with their friends, family members, their companies, the government, and any groups of which they are not members. What is more difficult is to find the good in things.

Recently, there have been some examples of good. First of all, there was Sully landing his plane in the Hudson River without any injuries and then not appearing on any talk shows. Then were was the Captain of the pirated ship who gave himself up to save his crew. When you think about it this action was really heroic. These pirates do not seem like nice guys.

And yesterday I received an e-mail with a link to a video on You-Tube that showed a women singing on a British Show, Britain's got Talent. Simon Cowell, of American Idol fame, was a judge on the show. The women was 48 years old and frumpy. She had never sang in public before. The audience and the judges did not seem to be taking her seriously. However, when she began to sing I Dream a Dream from Les Miserables it was incredibly beautiful and inspiring. It actually made me cry. She was so umassuming. She seemed like a real life Mary Poppins.

If you pay attention and are open minded there is good all around. What I consider to be good are those things that are done or created without any desire for personal gain. What distorts the picture and makes it appear that there is so much bad in the world is that most of the good gets unnoticed. The reason for this is that the world is controlled by people who desire power and money. They are the ones who get the most attention. So what happens is that most of the impressions that we get are from those who are aggressive, self-serving, and persuasive. The humble and compassionate exist in the background. The world presently rewards those who are more desirous, competitive, confident, and strong in their belief that they are right.

This is changing though. I don't think I am being naive about this. It has to change. If you believe that good triumphs in the end and you are honest with yourself about what really is good you will come to the same conclusion. Progress is about progressing. Progressing is about getting better. Getting better means that there will be more good than bad. We just need to begin to appreciate and see the good so that it will be nurtured and allowed to take its rightful place.

Sources of Good and Evil

It surprises me that so many people think they're logical, that they make sense, when in fact they are clueless and misinformed. It also surprises me how amazing our world is and how much technological progress we have made. How can we create computers that process and access billions of pieces of information, planes fly across the world, tv's that transmit images across space, buildings that reach the sky, and artificial body parts to replace real ones when we can hardly get along with each other.

Life on earth is enigmatic, a real mystery. We slaughter each other by the millions; at the same type, we develop cures and medical advances that prolong life and save millions from lives of pain and suffering.Our cruelty, prejudice, and ability to fool ourselves into believing we know more than we do is only equaled by our talent to create incredibly beautiful art, music, and theater.

To me, West Side Story is incredible art.
Some believe there is evil on our planet, that Satan actually exists, and his influence causes the bad things that happen in this world. Some feel man has an uncontrolled animal instinct, a legacy from our apelike ancestors, and that this aggressive, selfish, part of our being, when let loose, can cause unspeakably horrible actions.

We don't know for sure why bad stuff happens. We do know that it does happen. We also know that good stuff happens, real good stuff. If we are explorers of truth we might identify traces of evidence left behind in all action--this can lead us to understanding the sources of good and evil. When we explore evil, remnants of vanity and pride appear in all their many manifestations. When we investigate beauty and good we find kindness without expectation, humility, and an openness to change. The trained observer and spiritual seeker cultivates discrimination and discernment to recognize what path to follow, what to avoid.