Goodness Gracious

"Have a blessed day."  In my mind's eye, I can still see the short, slight, ebony colored, turbaned African immigrant woman who worked at the Valero gas station close to my Hurst house.  I never knew her name.  I would buy gas and deliberately go inside to pay because she would always smile and anoint me with her blessing.  She radiated goodness.

All the fruits of the spirit are exactly that:  They are what happen to who you are when you allow yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  GOODNESS is you being a blessing to others. Goodness is not about brownie points for your own virtue or morality.  Thinking about what other people need, and then answering that need is the spiritual fruit, goodness.

Now, a little aside for all my readers who are heathens.  The 'fruits of the spirit' is an inherently Christian concept since it's part of the New Testament - the blueprint for Christianity.  So let me have a bit of a dialogue with you:

Heathen:  "So, I don't believe in this religious mumbo-jumbo.  I think the idea that we are puppets of some 'grand creator' is just superstitious nonsense, a holdover from the pre-scientific days when we really didn't understand the universe, physics, biology or chemistry.  Nowadays, we are just a grasp away from understanding everything down to the sub-molecular level.  I'll put my faith in science, thank you very much."

 Me:  While you belittle and disrespect my beliefs, I will not do the same to yours.  Perhaps, I might just ask how all the understandings science can give you will solve the necessity of developing an ethical and moral system to give you a framework for rubbing along successfully with all the other human animals you encounter?  You might approach the "fruits of the spirit" as a game plan for living a satisfying and meaningful life on this planet. Then, when you shuffle off this mortal coil, you can fulfill your fondest certainty and go to the worms.  (Sorry, the last sentence was disrespectful, but I just couldn't help myself.)

I think everyone has that goodness muscle whether you are of the religious persuasion or a heathen.  You certainly see it being flexed whenever there's a tragedy, small or large. Goodness brings food, water, shelter, muscles, money, resources, and coordination after death, tornado, flood, hurricane, or earthquake.  

Now, here's today's takeaway:  You are a blessing when you volunteer, smile, offer a helping hand, listen with your third ear, put others before self, show respect, admiration, and give of your talents.  Goodness is being a blessing to others.  Show it by having a blessed day.