GOOD & EVIL ---

At least one of you knows which is which

The other night we were in a situation where the topic up for discussion was prayer.  Along the way, toward the end of the session, the problem of evil in the world came up.  The all pervasive presence of evil in the world was the provocative attitude of the moment.  Yes, the Devil is the one who runs the world and we don't have much chance of winning, or at least that is what it seems like.  I don't have to tell you that I have had a thought or two about this over the years.  You don't have to tell me that you too have had a thought or two about the same topic.  Because it is such a common thought and a common topic I decided that I would make it a little interesting and a little lighter than what it can turn out to be when it happens over the Thanksgiving table when Uncle Shatterdipicous [Nasty Greek] brings it up.  So, here we go.
One of the problems we have with Good and Evil is that we sometimes have a hard time telling them apart.  That's why I got the bright idea to put up the Kanji symbols for the two.  Now, except for my Japanese friends, I doubt that any of you know which is which.  Which is the point.  There is Good that we know is Good and there is Evil that we know is Evil.  We sit here thinking that if it were always that easy, life would be smoother.  Ha!  Think again.  Most of you adults know that sometimes the sweetness of the evil is mighty inviting.  C'mon, admit it.  I'm going to leave that one alone.  After all, I don't want to get too graphic.  I still have to have a good enough conscience to be able to sleep tonight.
Now, what about when Good and Evil look exactly the same?  It happens all the time.  We know a lot of goods and evils that serve two purposes.  What about certain insects that are harmful to us but also help to keep our world in balance?  [All except for mosquitoes]  How about the plant that you love to have in your house, except when you have a child who may be tempted to put some of it in his mouth and die?  How about fire?  How about the Sun?  How about our fellow humans?  How about that essential being, water?  Now, water is an interesting one.  Water can be its own enemy.  Did you ever think of that?  Every time you go for a swim, just remember that you are using the nature of water against the water itself.  If only we could do that for all the evils that we encounter.  Wouldn't it be nice?
Finally, I got riled the other night because the topic was naming our times as so evil that there could never have been any time worse.  The devil is getting the upper hand.  Now listen, I'm an old man.  I know that there is a lot of evil in the world.  I also know that it's not a newcomer.  If you want to see some evil, read your history book.  If you've thrown your history book away, read the Bible.  You'll see that they had short-changers, slave drivers, murderers, rapists, whores, rustlers, religious sex under the altar, for money, of course,  the selling of war prisoners to the allies to use in wars away from home, gambling, drinking, gerrymandering and watering the tavern wine.  I could go on, but I won't, it only continues.  It gets more common because the population grows, but nothing changes, except that as humans get smarter they find slicker ways to get it done.
There were some champions of the Good in the room too.  It is also true that we human beings have come a long way on the good side.  We still live the commandments to take care of one another.  We have better medicine, better transportation, better communications, better education, better understanding of language, better engineering, better food to balance our diet.  What about Doctors without Borders; Amnesty International;  Habitat for Humanity;  National Association of Free Clinics;  Salvation Army;  St. Vincent de Paul;  Non-Profit hospitals and schools;  Non-Profit special housing cooperatives;  non-profit rehabilitation centers, Monasteries...I could go on and on,  but I will finish by reminding all the pessimists in the room of the helping reaction that occurs in times of natural calamities.  
The existence of Good and Evil side by side in the world, starts with the ability that we humans have of choosing ourselves over everything else.  It's easy to say, but the complications that this simple reality causes are enormous.  So outlandishly enormous that even Uncle Shatterdipicous can't bring them back to size...certainly not at Thanksgiving Dinner.


OK, you win.  The "Good" is on your left.  The "Evil" is the other one, on your right.

PERFECT DARK

Has anything like this ever happened to you?  Alone, really alone surrounded by nothing and wondering how to get out of it?  I suppose that many of you are thinking about this in relationship to psychological reality.  Good going.  But there is a lighter side to this too, but nonetheless quite challenging.  

You all remember when you sought what you thought would be perfect darkness so that you could see your "glow-in-the-dark" bauble.  You went to your room and tried everything you knew to do to make it real dark.  Why is that that there always seemed to be some little crack of light somewhere?  Don't you remember that you were thinking that if that little crack of light would go away, your toy would be brighter?  You grew up and you knew that in certain conditions there is an absolute absence of light.  You knew it, but you had never lived it.  Then one day, or night, it happened and you were introduced to the perfect darkness.  You were told to put your hand in front of your face and sure enough, you couldn't see it.  It was truly, really dark. You weren't afraid because you knew that the guide had his finger on the switch and after a moment you you be fine and normal again.  I had a life experience once when I was being treated to a tour of a real gold mine.  I was about 22 or 23 and my father and I were visiting some cousins of his in Timmins, Ontario, Canada.  The man of the house was an elevator operator for the miners.  He had been doing it for 25 or more years.  Never had an accident.  This elevator went down slightly more that one mile to the bottom level of the mine.  5,600+ feet.  This man had mechanical aids to help him know where the cage was at every inch of the way, down or up.  Never had an accident.  Anyway, on this day, he is with us at the 5,200 foot level and he explains that sometimes the miner's hat light malfunctions.  It is then the law of the mine that the miner must return to the surface.  My father was incredulous, as only EFR Dion could be incredulous.  I didn't know that he had such a colorful French vocabulary!  While we were busy laughing and at the same time wondering how we would be if our lamp malfunctioned, the cousin, Adelard, by name, asked us to shut off our helmet lamps and get the "feel" for five minutes.  Immediately EFR Dion says, "Oh yeah, five minutes.  How you going to know?"  My cousin simply said, 'We'll all know."  He was so cool.  He was so certain.  He was so courageous.  He was so sure of himself that we could do nothing but turn our lamps off.  I don't know about my father, but I didn't breathe for at least the first minute.  It was absolutely shocking and perfect, unadulterated fear filled my being.  What saved me were two things.  I was NOT going to be outdone by "you know who."  Also, I had my finger on the switch, praying to my guardian angel that when I was ready, the switch and the light would work.  Competitive as we were [past tense for obvious reasons], we didn't "cave" and when Adelard turned his lamp on, we did too.  I remember that we did not talk, not a single word for at least 15 minutes after the lights went back on.  On a lighter note, you want to know how many minutes we spent the total, perfect darkness.  Adelard timed it.  EIGHT.  EFR Dion says, "I win!"  We laughed and lived with the experience for the rest of our lives. 

In closing, I have to say that the words of the Bible extol the light as being a description of God.  The darkness is the embodiment of evil.  The gold mine experience confirms the truth of that comparison for me.  Remember, I (we) experienced it in the company of loving family.  I can't imagine doing it with strangers.  May we all walk in the aura of the Divine Light every day of our lives.