To Be or Not to Be – Good

Greetings Dear Reader,

I always remember being told to be good.  What does it mean to be good?  One of my friends from my high school years had a jersey the simply said “good boy” on the back.  After a time it lost one of the “o” letters and so it said “god boy”.  The owner was a good guy and grew into a good man.

So what does it mean to be good?  A cursory reading of the online definitions of the word reveals that these four letters carry a heap of baggage:

Adjective:

1. to be desired or approved of.: healthy, fine, sound, tip-top, hale and hearty, fit, robust, sturdy, strong, vigorous, pleasing and welcome, expressing approval.
2. having the qualities required for a particular role, fine, superior, quality; More
3. appropriate to a particular purpose, convenient, suitable, appropriate, fitting, fit; More
4. (of language) with correct grammar and pronunciation. "she speaks good English"
5. Strictly adhering to or fulfilling all the principles of a particular cause, religion, or party. "a good Catholic girl".  close, intimate, dear, bosom, special, best, firm, valued, treasured
6. possessing or displaying moral virtue, virtuous, righteous, upright, upstanding, moral, ethical, high-minded, principled
7. Showing kindness.  kind, kindhearted, good-hearted, thoughtful, generous, charitable, magnanimous, gracious
8. obedient to rules or conventions, well behaved, obedient, dutiful, polite, courteous, respectful, deferential, compliant
9. commanding respect
10. Giving pleasure; enjoyable or satisfying. enjoyable, pleasant, agreeable, pleasurable, delightful, great, nice, lovely
11. Thorough, whole, full, entire, complete, solid

Noun:

1. that which is morally right; righteousness, virtue, righteousness, goodness, morality, integrity, rectitude;
2. benefit or advantage to someone or something, benefit, advantage, profit, gain, interest, welfare, well-being

After wading through that I find that I am thinking of other four letter words.  I need to be good, however, so I cannot dwell on them here.  I do need to see just how important it is that in an attempt to be good as a person I embrace all of the nuances of that word. 

Imagine if in our daily congress we only tried to be good.  I do not mean simply saying that we are but actually in every effort tried to be good.  The impact of just choosing to be good can be life changing. 

As a Christ follower I must be good to people.  I must be good.  In areas that I am not I must become good.  I used to teach my students this quote.  It still rings true. 

Good, better, best,

Never let it rest,

Until you good is better

And you better is your best.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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