Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Good -vs- Evil

I recently watched a special on the End of Times. Of all of the material presented I was most struck by a single statement made by the narrator:

“There is more evil in our world today than ever before.”

I’d like to officially go on record as disagreeing. Yes, we have war. We have crime, we have famine, we have injustice. But each day I look around and also see people reaching out to help others, lending a helping hand, giving of their time, giving of themselves. Each day I hear people taking the time to listen, taking the time to show interest and appreciation, taking the time to reach out and connect with others.

As I look around, I see signs posted about a fund-raiser for an accident victim, neighbors offering neighbors a helping hand, children collecting canned goods for the less fortunate. I see collection jars set out for underprivileged children and homeless animals, and community members providing financial assistance to struggling business owners. These are just a handful of deeds that I have stumbled across - within my immediate community, in the handful of days preceding this commentary.

No. I don’t think there is more evil in our world than ever before. I think there is more love, more kindness, and more compassion than ever before. In view of that I challenge each and every one of us to hold that vision and not give credence to the “more evil than ever before” mentality. Don’t buy into it. It’s important to remember, especially in these times, what you see is what you get. So take the time to see beauty. Take the time to see love. Witnessing acts of beauty changes us - witnessing acts of love changes us. Experiencing beauty and love changes us. Changes who we are. It changes how we interact with others. Changes our reality. Changes everybody's reality.

So do yourself and everyone else a favor: See beauty. See love. See hope. See inspiration. See God. Don’t fall prey to cynicism. It’s our job more than ever to create these things by seeing these things. Do your part. Hold the vision.

6 comments:

Malcolm R. Campbell said...

When I hear statements like that, I usually take them with a grain of salt unless the individual backs them up with some facts. "Based on what?" I would ask if I heard that in a personal conversation.

While instant media coverage and the Internet inform us about everything bad and give us the impression there's more "evil" around, we also don't hear about all the good things and the everyday people leading normal lives. Those don't make the news.

I like your point of view here.

Malcolm

Paula said...

Yeah, what he said!

Me-Me King said...

Excellent post, Mika. Very well written, you conveyed your feelings quite nicely. Keep up the great writing!

Anonymous said...

Hi Laura,
I fully agree with you. I view life in the sense that there is no (absolute) evil - rather there is only varying degrees of good. I compare this to cold and heat - there is no cold, only varying degrees of absence of heat, and to the extent that we adapt to (and shield ourselves from) our environment, we find it more and more bearable, until we experience it as "heaven on earth".
Kind regards.
Danie

Love Works said...

Profoundly beautiful and absolutely true. If I think about evil I will see it... if I think about love, I will see it.

It is what we think about that becomes our reality. Thanks for the gentle reminder of our own role in what is.

Your blog is powerful. God bless you and what you write about. Namaste' -- jb

John said...

Hi Laura, I completely agree with you.

The world is getting better!

My friend is a director of research at a big listed media agency and he agrees with us as well...

Based on millions of dollars worth of research he has found that people are moving towards more holistic values, and are looking for more meaning in their lives.

There is a social trend towards a higher consciousness!

A great example of that is the new movie that is causing such a buzz in spiritual and holistic cirlces

www.wheeloflife.tv/blog

But, I digress. Yes, I agree with you...great comment, and good on you saying it.

Warmest wishes

John