What does it mean to be a good person? A notion I've been struggling with a lot lately. It seems many think it's just about being nice, getting along with people, caring about your family, and staying out of trouble. I had a conversation during my running of the bulls weekend. I was talking with someone about why Christians believe being just a "good person" isn't good enough. My boy was trying to tell me he doesnt understand why you just can't be this good person. I told him its funny he says that since that seems to be a recurring theme among many people yet this world is definitely not in a surplus of goodness.
I think we must truly distinguish between opening the door for the old lady at the mall and what it means to truly be a good person. Does compassion for humanity come into the mix and at what level? I know what the bible teaches, we all try and fall short of the glory of god and it isn't satisfactory to just be this "good person." Aside from religion however I'm just looking for some intellectual discourse here. I mean everyone and their mother talks about being a good person but what the hell does that mean? It's like the most ambiguous thing i've ever heard.
Look I know everyone can't be going to Africa or to the hood to champion some cause but at the same time I feel like we confuse being good too often with being nice. I don't think it's enough to be a nice person and get along with most people and be liked. I'm tired of people trying to comfort themselves and sleep at night with this notion and I wonder what everyone truly thinks about the definition of goodness. Someone enlighten me... I have my spiritual beliefs but I'm interested to hear what others have to say about truly being good. I mean is our definition of good the exact opposite of what we perceive as evil... I think not. I think the reason our gandhi's and others are so rare is because we sugar coat goodness into some name brand superficial definition.
Someone help me out here....
Dream Big
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3 comments:
So I came across the link to your journal on facebook and read this entry (I hope you don't mind). Then it began to fester in my mind the more I thought about it. So ambiguous- a "good person". I believe the essence of a good person isn't that he or she is necessarily nice or empathetic all the time. Rather, it lies in whether he or she feels guilt or has a voice of conscience after doing something hurtful or wrong. We constantly fall from a state of "perfection" but I believe the true mark of a "good person" is someone who recognizes this failure and strives to change or make better their less than virtuous actions.
~Your nutella and strawberry loving friend~ :)
In brief -
I think from a very young age we're conditioned to think that being good is based around obedience, maybe even servilitude. I think the concept of 'good' that you're searching before stretches far beyond good behavior, or manners... It sounds like a cop-out but goodness is relative.
How does one become a good person? I suppose it depends on who's definition you're attempting to fulfill. In a teacher's eyes it may very well be being obedient. In God's eyes it is different, to a disenfranchised group it is different, etc. It reads like you are looking for a path to follow to find goodness but it doesn't necessarily have to have already been travelled. You don't have to be good like Gandhi to live a life you can be proud of - look in rather than out - because being good in your eyes is followed by being judged as good in ours, but I don't think you even need an outsiders approval.
I'm interested to read your response.
Sorry I took so long to respond, I've been a little busy. I feel you to an extent jmac but the more i think about it, that notion of just being content with oneself can be beautiful and terrible. On one hand you dont let what others feel dictate who you are but at the same time that attitude can lead us to be happy just caring about ourselves and not worrying about the greater good.I'm not saying we need to be just like Gandhi but it bothers me that that kind of goodness is so rare. I think people can live normal lives and maintain some sort of true compassion for others. I just think right now there is a lack thereof and I think it lies with what we believe makes a person good. I don't think we can always just say well I'm content with myself. It's not that easy or that simple. I don't define my goodness by others but I don't think you can completely separate the two. I look to God for my example but like I said I don't think one's comfort with oneself always does the trick.
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