Good or Bad?

Have you ever noticed that movies, cartoons, and fairy tales often make it seem so clear who is the “bad guy” and who is the “good guy”? Think of some examples with me. Take “Home Alone”: Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is the good boy, and Harry and Marv (the burglars) are the bad guys. In “The Lion King,” Simba is the good lion, Scar is the bad lion. From the Brothers Grimm, Snow white is the good girl, and the jealous queen/witch is the bad girl. Simple and straightforward; you are either good, or you’re bad.

But life is not that simple, is it? Is anyone all good or all bad? Are you all good or all bad? Do you always do what is right in thought, word, and deed? Aren’t you both some good and some bad? Sure you probably do some good things and help others sometimes; people are capable of tremendous good. Yet we all have moments when we look to our own needs first, or respond with rudeness to a customer service representative, or spend money carelessly, or act in ways that hurt our bodies or harm the earth. The list can go on. (Maybe, when we think about, none of us is as good as we fool ourselves into thinking.) We do the best we can, but the truth is that we are all far from holy. We are all both good and bad.

All too often we forget this truth, and we try to categories other people as “all good” or “all bad”. We do this more often than we realize. Are Christians “all good” or “all bad”? Are Muslims? Are Palestinians? Is George W. Bush? Is either McCain or Obama all good or all bad? We all live somewhere in the middle, flaws and virtues together. May the Lord forgive our “bad”ness, increase our “good”ness, and open our eyes to see in truth and love.