Mrs. Long**, my favorite Sunday School teacher, often uttered Biblical-sounding prouncements about goodness to our unruly second-grade class. Most of the time she was staring at me, at least that’s how it felt. Perhaps I misunderstood the nuances of her missionary zeal because after I graduated from second grade, I spent the remaining years of my childhood, a large proportion of my teenage years, and a huge percentage of my young adulthood trying to be a good girl.
Recently I determined that wearing a Red Hat with the rebellious ladies of the same name was now more my style. I didn’t even want to write about goodness!
But then the word SEEK jumped out at me. Wait a minute I thought. Seek implies searching. Searching implies effort. Effort suggests action. Action requires discernment. Discernment needs internal and external research.
It takes seeking, searching, effort, action, and discernment to determine what will be “good” for all. All these steps take time. Here are some suggestions from Dr. Wyatt on how to do this:
Refuse to accept easy or obvious solutions that might alienate one group or another. The best path through tragedy is one that brings divergent groups together respectfully with wisdom and vision and without hidden, self-seeking agenda. Work toward “both-and” solutions rather than “either-or.”
Thanks for exploring the mystery – Nicky Mendenhall
*Karen Wyatt, MD, is a family physician who has spent much of her twenty-five-year career as a hospice medical director. The author of What Really Matters: 7 Lessons for Living from the Stories of the Dying (Select Books, 2012), Dr. Wyatt has lectured and written extensively on end-of-life issues with an emphasis on the spiritual aspect of illness and dying. To learn more, go to www.karenwyattmd.com.
**Not her real name. She’s now in Witness Protection Program.