I Believe in the Basic Goodness of Man

I inadvertently posted on my blog an article written for a literary magazine. Thanks to all who brought it to my attention. Here is the actual article written for the blog.

I have faith in the basic goodness of man. I am well aware that the conflict of good and bad merge, and it is often hard to distinguish beauty and virtue and kindness and laughter from all ugliness and wickedness and hurtfulness and sadness. But I accept the imperfections of the world (not because it was created imperfect, but was made imperfect by man's complexity of behaviour) and despite man's faults, I have faith that his virtues outweigh his failings. Kindness is at the heart of my belief that people are basically good. It is the vehicle through which, in the larger struggle of good and bad, we rely on to sustain hope. Time after time, it is through kindness that we rise above trying circumstances, putting others before ourselves. Earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes and hurricanes, mudslides, rock slides, fires and floods, famine, medical aid, vaccines, shelter, illness and death...our spontaneous impulse is to lend a hand sending ripples that bring us back to that place of instinctive goodness which is deeply rooted in us from birth...a place from where we sometimes drift away until we are reminded by some misfortune or crisis to return to.
I believe that there is more good than bad in this world, despite the negative outlook of radio talk show hosts and reports in the news of wrong doings and crime. For every report of a crime, there are thousands of decent, kind and honest individuals whose good deeds do not make the news but whose goodness softens hearts. I believe there are more people in this world who wish to create than there are those who wish to destroy. Take a look around. There are tens of thousands of volunteers in every fork and bend of our lives who spend countless hours doing their level best without thanks or glory to create, to shelter, to aid, to build, to strengthen a system in a world they believe in. For each single person who refuses to feed a hungry, there are hundreds who open their doors and invite the needy to a meal. There is ready charity all around. I believe that humanity has more people who are willing to work to find solutions with the promise of hope than those who sit back and shrug their shoulders in careless negligence often giving rise to fear. Doing good becomes a struggle we all face as we acknowledge that life is painful and difficult at times. I also know that the ability to take in the beauty and goodness that surrounds me is a grace to be recognized as fortunate as the goodness itself. Goodness is soft and subtle. It can sometimes go unnoticed because it is often hidden in the beauty we take for granted. When recognized and acknowledged, it permeates whatever it comes in contact with and reminds us of our basic impulse, our natural beginnings, and of what goodness could be and should be. After all, what is the measure of a society if not how well it treats the less fortunate among its members? We become the person who behaves spontaneously with grateful goodness, thus transforming a sometimes confused and discouraged world into one strung together with obvious goodness, the mirror of compassion.

This I humbly speak...