“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” (Anonymous).
It takes a person of unusual integrity to face the question of goodwill. It’s easy to say that we care about people and have goodwill toward everyone, but it’s a rare person who can say these things and not distort the truth. Aren’t there some people who would give us secret pleasure to see hurt? Of course, not a lot, just a little. . . Just to give them a taste of their own medicine. . . Just to see that justice is done. After all, it would be “for their own good”, right? Because we “care” about them.
The undeniable truth is this: most of us ordinary people have at least a trace of it Grudge (“Malice”) in us. where it should be well-being (“goodwill”), there is often a residue of malice or vengeance. We say we “don’t intend to harm anyone”, but we take the view that harm is exactly what some people have coming to them – and it wouldn’t hurt our feelings much to see them get it.
However, it is my considered opinion that maliciousness is not a natural way of thinking for us. It is a distortion, a distortion of our better instincts. I agree with Václav Havel, who said, “Again and again I have been convinced that a great potential for goodwill lies dormant within our society. It is just that it is incoherent, stifled, confused, crippled and confused.” So when we see that our goodwill has become “suppressed, confused, etc.”, we need to be honest about it and work tirelessly to root out those interferences from our hearts.
Whether our will toward others is good or bad, desire is something we can change. If we have fallen into the habit of thinking hurtful thoughts about others, it may take some practice, but we can transform our “malice” into “good will.” We can decide to be charitable.
But as we work on our goodwill, let’s improve it by making it more specific. General goodwill towards mankind is of comparatively little use. We need active, practical goodwill toward the people we actually have to deal with on a day-to-day basis!
“You cannot increase the peace and goodwill of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love where you live and work” (Thomas Dreyer).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
