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Good!

 

 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (I Peter 2:12)

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

          Oh, if there was ever a verse that was meant for today, these are at least two of them! The first issue, of course, is the definition of “good lives.” I think it safe to start with the idea that Peter was talking about moral goodness, not material wealth. I’m not sure that we need to specify it further. If you think that inclusiveness and tolerance are the highest forms of moral goodness, then be inclusive and tolerant. If you think that sobriety and temperance is the highest form of moral goodness, be sober and temperate. If you think charity, volunteering, advocacy, or evangelism are the highest form, do them. Whatever the highest form – live it out in your life in such a way that even if other people disagree with what you proclaim to be the highest form, they won’t be able to fault your behavior.

          Now, within doing what you see as the highest good, do it in a way that you would have others do the same to you. In other words, you may think that tolerance is the highest value. Fine. Be tolerant. But unless you would like someone to stand by judging your tolerance, don’t judge the tolerance of other people. Just be tolerant. If you think being good means temperance, then practice temperance (moderation in action, thought, or feeling: restraint) then practice temperance in your treatment of others.

          The interesting thing is that if you actually set your goal as being good, there seems to be no end to new and different ways to be good. It’s rare that one goes through a day without any opportunity to do good – even if that good involves waving at strangers as they drive by so that at least one human acknowledges their existence in a positive way that day. So far, my good deeds of the day have been praying for people, pulling some weeds from a friend’s garden, walking my dog (and kicking her ball), taking a picture or two, sharing a picture of a tree frog in a birdhouse, and washing two sides of my trailer. Will any of those change the world? In most cases, probably not. But good isn’t only good if it’s big, spectacularly, or earth-shaking.

      So, your turn. What did you do yesterday (since this gets posted early morning) that was good?

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