texified

          I got to wondering what people mean when they say that a person is good.  I’m not sure why I started wondering about this.  I think it is because somebody told me that I was a good person on the same day that somebody told me that I was a despicable person.  The latter person enumerated all the things that made me a terrible person, and the other person simply said that I was “good.”

            So I was left with a list of things that made me “bad,” but I wasn’t sure about what made me “good.”  I think this is what started me thinking about the subject.  One can complete a list of things that make a person good, but after reading some of these lists that have been posted online (most by women oddly enough), I find that much of the criteria that is used seems arbitrary and shallow sometimes. 

       ”A good man puts the toilet seat down after using it.”

      Another one: “How could this person be good when he had racist attitudes?” The person was a slave holder in the 1700s (Thomas Jefferson).

       Or, “How could that man be good when he believed that his wife should stay home and take care of the children?”

      Also some said that a good man would have to be handsome!  Surely there are better criteria than these.  One thing that I have concluded is that a person should be judged by the values of the time and culture in which they lived, not by the current fashion of the day.       

      However, that being said, it seems that there are certain bedrock qualities that most societies and times would consider “good.”  I can look at my father and say that he is an outstandingly good man.  What are some of these qualities that he posseses that strike me as being particularly good?  I’ll try to make a short list of them:

A. Kindness: My father is an exceptionally kind man.

B. Considerateness:  He is exceedingly considerate of the feelings and rights of others.  Politeness could also be included under this quality.

C. Loving:  My father loved and stayed married to the same woman for sixty-six years.  Besides that he has always being very full of love for all of his family.

D. Faithfulness: Not only did he remain faithful to his wife, but he has remained faithful to his children, always supporting them with love and understanding even when he might have disagreed with them and their actions.  He has always been faithful to his beliefs also, never wavering in his support of what he has considered to be right.

E. Modesty: My father has never put himself forward, never bragged nor boasted.  He has alway remained a quiet man, never loud or obnoxious.

F.  Gentleness:  My father has always been gentle with his wife and children.

G. Honesty: I have never in any way seen any hint of dishonesty or duplicity in my father.

H. Trustworthy:  You can always trust my father…for his discretion, for his support, for his help, etc.  His word can be trusted completely.

I.  Despite being gentle and unassuming, my father has no qualms about standing forward and making his beliefs known when he feels that they need defending.  He is no Wilbur Milktoast!

    And so on and so on…one can make such lists, but when read over they seem inadquate and trite when compared to the reality.  I do believe that true goodness supercedes time and culture and is always recognized when encountered.