Goodness!

I am feeling so overwhelmed recently. There is just too much goodness and wonder around me. I see people do acts of incredible generosity for people they've never met, I see questions rankling in people like "How can I be of true help to the people around me?", I see the sky vibrant and full in all of its shapes and colors, I see the decision to preserve natural beauty put above the desire to build McMansions.

There was a time in my life when I would respond to these things with, "Well, that lady might be nice to this stranger in the check-out line, but she's probably horrible to her family," and "Their supposedly selfless concern is actually a desire to not see the pain around them," and "The sky may be lovely, but I'm down here," and "But they've destroyed so much habitat and far more people are making the opposite decision elsewhere."

But I can't do that anymore. I just can't do that. There is no longer space in me for that. I have somehow found myself in the place where I cannot deny goodness in any form. I can't overlook it, or marginalize it, or disregard it. I have to celebrate it -- not necessarily in an active way, but just in the mirror of my heart. Some wonderful light in my heart turns on when I see siblings caring for each other, even if they punch each other the rest of the time. Something deep and wonderful stirs in me when I see officials decide to change an unjust law, even if they have collectively made other unjust decisions.

I'm learning to see goodness and love, and I'm seeing that they can't be touched by darkness or criticism. Shadow can't obscure light, it can't limit or change light -- light is simply light, and there is no struggle or opposition with the dark. If it is real light, if it is honest, then there, right there, is genuine virtue, no matter how small, no matter how much crap may be around it. It is enough.

I can't find the words for it. My heart is just so full, and my gratitude is just too much. To be able to witness this is just unreal.

We create good not by annihilating what is distasteful, but by nurturing what is wholesome and compassionate and true. May we all help each other to witness our own goodness, and the goodness of each other.