“Beauty is approachable. People don’t believe in truth. And people don’t trust goodness.” That was how my friend this morning commented on one of my side gigs. 

I have been reflecting on this distrust of goodness. We distrust people’s ability for redemption according to our experiences, our traumas, our misjudgements. We see things as transactions. You be good to me, I’ll be good to you. It’s easier to reject goodness offered as a free self-gift as opposed to receiving in humility and acceptance, seeing one another as equals. Acknowledging that I am equally prone to being a self gift as I am to robbing someone. 

But what is goodness? It can best be described as a marriage of habits (virtues), and purpose. Part of our purpose lies in our relationship with ourselves and with others. How can we co-exist? 

But goodness takes it further with virtues embellishing our existence. And above all, goodness, at least true goodness, does not seek it back in return. When this is done with radical self honesty, it’s beautiful, disarming and transformative. Ultimately, it has the power to mend what was robbed or broken. It has the power to make whole.

#goodness #beauty #transcendentals #virtue