The Affair of Good

The world has grown dark. Innocence has flown away with intense speed, yet I grasp hopelessly in this darkness, hoping just to brush against it. Does it flee from the corruption close by? As I stand in this crowd, the buzz of human voices echo through my brain. Inconsequential chatter. I feel as if the world has swallowed itself. It has not realized that it is plummeting towards its ruin. Society has consented to fraternize with doom. Why can they not see the joy in purity? They scowl and delve into chaos, smiling all the while at their own folly. They have not tasted happiness. They swear, revel in drunkenness, lie, mock morality, and scoff at righteousness. They have not glimpsed respect. They do as they please with no concern for what is honorable. I cannot be above these dark things. I often must battle against my own nature that covets defiance. The Dark One whispers to me also, evil concepts, and I am ashamed.

I am sad. What used to be socially unacceptable is now perfectly accustomed in everyday life. This is an age of new conformity, where virtues are the enemy. Friendship can be constructive or corrosive. Will I bow to those closest to me, or will I stand tall and strong? When we say that change can sometimes be wrong, they plaster names like “old fashioned” or “conservative” as if it were a bad thing, as if we are less advanced than they are. In reality, they have just made changes that we find inappropriate for human conduct. Can we not respect yet disapprove? If immorality encroaches on your values, can we not protest? Oh we can, I attest to that!

Yet I am afraid. I feel that if I do not yield to those who seem to dictate conformity, they will smother me, and I shall cease. I am angry. Even Christianity is under savagelike attack. The establishment of ethical decency is jeered at. Change must happen in the heart by something greater than evil. For without the guidance of spirituality we are prone to inherent corruption.

Now I smile, because I see the shimmer of hope. I see it even through this coating of pitch that quenches the illumination. I hear kind words exchanged. Smiles brim with brightness. I sometimes see altruism. I look into his eyes and see love. He sees to it that not all is lost. Some are as I, pursuing amelioration. We wait for the dawn apprehensively, drumming our fingers rhythmically to mark the passage of our yearning.

As I walk through this world, I see the beauty of creatures and green leaves, the wonder of their design, but they only detect flaws. They perceive the fog as ghostly glum. But I stroll through it, feeling the caress of moisture and the gorgeous play of movement in its rolling body. They see descending leaves as the death of summer. I see it as the birth of snow. The white transforms the season. It is the coming of ice that glitters like tiny diamond prisms. I hear the angelic music of rain. They only think of getting wet. Oh, what shallowness we have reverted to. Run in that rain, laugh and spin in it! Only then can you feel each drop as a kiss from the heavens. Look for the good in things even when others criticise it because they lack understanding. Strike a smile and infect others with mirth, even when they seem closer to weeping. The world has spun off into the coldness of space. We must return to our orbit of sunshine. The institution of light had a beginning, but it will blaze into perpetuity. Likewise, good with shine on with no aid on our part.

There is glory in this Earth, glory formed from the first “Let there be”. Let there be. Let us aim for the perfection that was unleashed by the utterance of those words. For the incomprehensible power is a source of reverence and redemption. I shall not be unkind to those around me, for it is deplorable. Benevolence is much more rewarding. Let there be no conformity save that of what is just. Let there come to mind nothing impure that would constitute human discord. For the paths of thought are potent indeed. Let them not be tainted with malice, for they can bring revelation or destruction. Let loathing be shunned from the mind. Let courage spring from the souls of all. Let there be no strife, let peace blot it out. Let all men be wise and proclaim the truth. For these are pleasing actions. Let me be. Let me always adhere to my beliefs. For my anthem is of many immense things, yet the essence can be capture as thus: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world [as others do], but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”