Good, the more communicated, more abundant grows.
~John Milton (1608-1674)
Goodness Always Grows…
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in His temple. For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble; He will conceal me under the cover of His tent; He will lift me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, “Seek My face.” My heart says to You, “Your face, LORD, do I seek.” Hide not Your face from me. Turn not Your servant away in anger, O You who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in. Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!
~ Psalm 27
Oh beloved, it is true. There are things He starts doing in our lives. Things we thought impossible before, now simply begin to flow from who we are. His Word brought freedom to our hearts, and now our hearts have begun to burst forth with the good He is doing within.
Something within us has begun to understand something deeply and abidingly important. We are deeply Loved by the One who is Love Himself. The thing that holds the Trinity together in Union is what now binds us to His very Heart.
And in being bound by the strongest of cords to the Rock that will never move, we can though move towards others in goodness. We actually begin to make a difference in people’s lives. Sometimes, and then often, we become the difference between life and death in their situations.
It’s not us. It’s Him. It’s the Love. And this is what makes all the difference. Before, we were trying to just decipher the difference between what we should and should not do. Now (in our better moments) we simply flow with the goodness He has poured into us – and they come forth as rivers of living water.
Sometimes though, people will not take a liking to the goodness at work in our lives. Instead of it being a fragrance of Spring, it is perceived as some sort of rotting mass at the end of Fall. Why this is so, is really not that hard to understand. We were just like them at one time. And we, just like them, would have rather died in our misery than have given up and let the Breath of Another fill our lungs and revive us.
But alive we are now, and the Life at work will not give up on us until we are exactly like the Giver. We are becoming good. Actually, really, truly good. The work He started in us is most surely growing to completion. And it is here that the good news of the Gospel gets even better.
Can we see it? The goodness at work within us is cannot be stopped. And the goodness that begins to splash out of us onto others cannot be stopped either. Even if we are deliberately misunderstood (this will happen), and reviled for the goodness which flows forth from us, nothing will negate it. In fact, like some sort of probiotic infection, Love and goodness begins to soften the hardest and most diseased recipient.
So beloved, are you good and misunderstood? Are you worried that the Love pouring out of you will be of no effect? Don’t. The Goodness at work within you is infinite, and no thing can stop it. Just Love. You have everything in you now to do this forever. Nothing can stop you. Nothing trumps the goodness of G_d. And this is very Good News! For, Goodness always grows!
Great works do not always lie in our way, but every moment we may do little ones excellently, that is, with great love.
~Saint Francis of Sales (1567-1622)
