I am one who happens to believe in a loving, all-present, omniscient, all-powerful, entirely good God who is Spirit. This God, our Father-Mother, we are told by wise teachings, created us spiritually in His/Her image and likeness–distinct from the mortals we suppose ourselves to be.
Yet, I am also a seeker of Truth and loathe lies. I cannot merrily say all is good when it appears otherwise.
Evil, such as we face in current politics and wars, as well as in personal tragedies and disappointments, makes it hard to find our God-center rooted in good. We may fail to see this loving God as our source of well-being when all around us we see, hear, taste, smell and touch evil in its many forms. Disaster and the collapse of good seems evident. A shooter kills, a bomb destroys, a liar wins, and we become discouraged. The light goes out that illuminated our being.
Desiring to understand the problem of evil has long been the struggle of human beings everywhere. The question “Why is there evil when God is good?” has no easy answer.
But the bits of love and beauty in our lives, and our little triumphs over fear and discouragement, show us the way. We have a choice between good and evil. Why not choose the good? Why not put pieces of it into every day since it is our preference? Love sparks good via generosity, kindness, appreciation, justice, and brings satisfying solutions to life’s problems. Evil can’t do this.
Building a foundation which lets our beliefs and acts be born of good brings true satisfaction. We find peace and gratitude in living good and dismissing evil. Such thinking is not mere “positive thinking” but Love-derived thinking. And we are hard pressed to find any aspect of life more profound, permanent, and adored than love–love that is charity, caring, out-reaching, forgiving, that never self-serves nor tramples.
Oh, it is no easy path, this doing good! But few good things come easily. We have work to do. Praying to do. Principles to practice. Acts to undertake. Daily. But isn’t a life of good worth the effort?
He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1Peter 3: 10-11
Light in the Forest, oil, 10″ x 8″, framed, $575 by Gwendolyn Evans
Artwork: Light in the Forest, framed oil, 14″ x 12,” $575. This is a recent piece done from a bright spot we frequently walk here in Maine.