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19 Apr 2026

 

To Be A Good Person

Being a Good Person is a challenge to us all. We face the nagging dilemma of being a trustworthy individual for others. At the same instant, who can trust us?

We all experience suffering and rejection, loneliness and disappointment. Misfortune is inherent to our human condition. We also value Kindness and Love, which are inherent needs in human nature, God-given traits we all possess. But (like it or not) we’re also bound by human and Divine laws to exercise self-control so that we do not seek Love in loveless or injurious ways. So, seeking Goodness seems reasonable, if not quick and easy.

Thus, we gingerly juggle the tugs of temptation and urges to Kindness. Experience tells us that many people live only to satisfy their selfish egos. Others live a self-less life; Kindness enlivens their life’s purpose.

What makes the difference? Skeptics view Kindness as slight indication of God in our lives. Contrarily, I believe God inspires Kindness and acts of Goodness. I see Kindness as unmistakable evidence that God is alive and well in human affairs.

Proof ?

Some people ask: “How do we know? What proof do we have?” They insist that God is secretive, silent to our ears, without emotional consolation. So, why believe God is active in our lives?

I believe because God makes it clear Who and What He is through the massive evidence of Creation. Creation (including us) is His persuasive proof. The ordinary things of living are truly extraordinary in nature and origin, if we will only see the obvious. Our humanity - flawed as we are - is proof of God’s infinite Being, and His personal attention to each of us. Furthermore, I believe our Kindness to one another demonstrates to us that God works in normal, everyday ways, not in flamboyant displays.

Some people take it personally that God does not behave as they want. God does not give them emotional security nor assure them that they’re on the right track, nor does He ease their doubts. God’s Ways often involve loss and nagging doubts, emotional and physical pain. His Ways are often frightening, ambiguous, a challenge to our Trust; hardly what one expects from a Loving God. Even His Son wished Him otherwise – for a time.

But … the message we receive is that we must face challenges and, despite the cost, hold onto our Trust. To me, the point is clear: our wonderment about God, our doubts and our spiritual dryness are never out of the care of our Loving God.

A good model for us is Mother Teresa, who spent her religious life plagued with doubts. Her "secret" was her Perseverance. Even when she was riddled for decades with the deepest doubts about God's existence and Love for her, she Persevered.

So must we! That is the point of living: Persevere and Trust …..

Faith, Not Feelings

Faith tells us that - in terms known to God alone - we are ever in His keeping at all times:

• Even when He is silent on our terms;
• Even when we are plagued with doubts;
• Even when we are burdened with mean, angry thoughts;
• Even when weariness hovers heavily and sprinkles us with travail and negativity.
• The message is for us to Persevere and to Trust, no matter what happens.

Faith insists all this is true, even when God is silent and we yearn for consolation. Therefore, we are wise to remember that the silence of God is what we hear when He listens. God listens to us in ways deeper than our words or needs will ever comprehend.  

Still, our Faith can be sorely tested; we are often side-tracked by doubt and emptiness. We may feel battered. Our darkened feelings can cast lengthy shadows over our Faith and Trust. And when clarity is weakened, deeper doubts may creep in.

Our doubts might delude us into the erroneous belief that how we feel dictates who we are in God’s eyes. Doubts may compromise our Faith and becloud the fact that the Love of God for each of us is Eternal.

What is our best response?

Trust and Perseverance! Perseverance and Trust! Our Faith and our Trust, our Hope and our commitment to Kindness must endure, even if they exist side-by-side with our doubt and our hurt. Perseverance and Trust…

Truths To Remember

So, let us ever remember a fundamental Truth about our human condition … a Truth which many people forget:

We possess the dual reality of our limited human selves whilst we are striving for the Divine. Thus, it is our intentions - not our feelings - which are always the hallmark of our state in life.

Our feelings may mislead us, but our intentions are declarations of our choices. Our intentions inspire our behavior. Our intentions are the primary factor in our choices and our subsequent actions. Our intentions are paramount, not our feelings.

That’s why our intentions to Persevere and to Trust are essential in our choice to Trust God, even when we feel otherwise.

It is also valuable to remember that Perseverance in doubt is an act of Humility, and Humility is the beginning of Wisdom.

Wisdom recognizes that our struggle to approach God is best realized with Christ as our guide. We relate best to God through Jesus.

Like all authentic relationships, our relationship with Christ is an interactive, two-way friendship. Jesus spelled out His willingness to uphold His side of the friendship. He constantly holds out His hand to us, seeking our cooperation, asking us to uphold our side of the friendship. BUT we’re still human, still prone to error and doubt, which is all the more reason to take His Hand with gratitude and delight … and Persevere in Trust.

The Value Of Our Relationship

So, we are both blessed and burdened with the graces of Faith and the anchors of humanity. We lug around with us the good and the not-so-good. The saving part of this reality is that Jesus understands the burden of human nature which we carry … the distractions and weariness and nagging doubts and stresses and the spiritual burnout we undergo. 

Happily, His constant response to our humanity is to hang onto us, to be with us as our permanent friend. Our relationship with Him has a constant basis because He is the driving force in it. Even when we doubt both ourselves and God, even when we waver and become emotionally drained, He is always steady and trustworthy. His word is a given, His friendship constant. He understands -- and so must we -- that our intentions define us. Even in His last hours, as you recall, He asked His Father to let Him out of what was ahead of Him. But after expressing His doubt, He added that single phrase which still rings through Christian history: "Not my will, but thine be done."  

So, as friends of Jesus, do we still have to go through doubt and uncertainty and lack of clarity? Of course, the answer is, "Yes, we do. Just as Jesus did in His life, so must we follow His path." 

Finally . . .

I believe experiences of value are present in every measure of pain and aloneness, in every test of our Trust, in every challenge to our Faith, and surely in our intentions to Perseverance. In this fashion, we understand what St. Paul meant when he said that our weakness is our strength.  

Perseverance is our gift and our heritage. Let us Persevere during our doubts and ambiguity. Let us see that our doubts are indeed steps toward a deeper relationship; invitations to stay the course of Faith and Trust during dark nights of our soul.

Let us realize that our best choice is to allow God to have His way with us, and for us to accept the fact that our doubts are indeed our path to clarity and our doorway to peace.  

For some people, these Truths make no sense at all, while others gladly Persevere. Eventually, as we seek the help of Jesus, Wisdom and Discernment enlighten us. We begin to see more clearly what is obvious, namely, that Perseverance and Trust are fundamental in our friendship with God.  

We grow in our closeness to God when we realize that Jesus has deliberately trod the painful path before us and now supports us with His steady, kindly hand. And we realize God speaks not with a storm but with the soft and gentle breezes of Wisdom’s insights.  

There is much saving clarity in these Truths, but if these ideas raise questions, I welcome any comments you wish to make.

In the meanwhile, let us Persevere.