Made for good -- or evil?

Today, in Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent, looking at the stories of Jesus' temptation in the desert, Richard Rohr points out that "We can only be tempted to something that is good on some level, partially good, or good for some, or just good for us and not for others.  Temptations are always about "good" things, or we could not be tempted... Most people's daily ethical choices are not between total good and total evil, but between various shades of good."


So the issue, he says, is really about discernment, and his prayer prompt for us today is this: "God, help me to distinguish my wild beasts from my angels.  Help me to see how I often confuse one with the other."

Since we're talking about goodness, then, it seemed appropriate to go again to Desmond and Mpho Tutu's book, Made for Goodness.  And there, despite all the horror he has seen, Desmond Tutu asserts, "We are fundamentally good.  When you come to think of it, that's who we are at our core.  Why else do we get so outraged by wrong?"

"You and I," he goes on to say, "... are tuned to the key of goodness.  This is not to deny evil, it is to face evil squarely.  And we can face evil squarely because we know that evil will not have the last word....To be hateful and mean is operating against the deepest yearnings that God places in our hearts.  Goodness is not just our impulse.  It is our essence."

"What difference does goodness make?" he continues.  "Goodness changes everything.  If we are at core selfish, cruel, heartless creatures, we need to fight these inclinations at every turn and often need strong systems of control to prevent us from revealing our true (and quite ugly) selves.  But if we are fundamentally good, we simply need to rediscover this true nature and act accordingly... What is the quality of life on our planet?  It is nothing more than the sum total of our daily interactions.  Each kindness enhances the quality of life.  Each cruelty diminishes it."

One of my projects for my class on Metaphor at Antioch was to read and report on George Lakoff's book, The Political Mind. And probably the most significant learning I got from that book is that people -- at least in this country -- have a tendency to view the world, and especially government, through one of two filters: a strict father filter, or a nurturing parent filter. At the heart of these filters lie some basic beliefs about human nature.

If you believe that humans are born selfish and evil, then the responsibility of the parent (and government) is to be, as Tutu says, an authority figure: to fight evil inclinations at every turn, and to teach our children rules about right and wrong, to insist upon obedience and discipline, to punish them when they stray, and to instill in them the importance of self-reliance.

If, on the other hand, you believe humans are born to be good, then the responsibility of the parent (and government) is to nurture: to respond with empathy, to awaken our children to their true nature, training them to be aware of our mutual interdependence and to take responsibility for their own needs and those of others; raising them in an atmosphere of mutual respect and empowering them so they can act for good.

There are a lot of tangents I could embark on at this point, and most of them have to do with the polarities around good and evil.  But the question I really want to ask here is this: how do you view yourself?  Do you trust, with the Tutus, that you yourself are essentially good?  Do you nurture yourself, respond with empathy and respect to the challenges you face within yourself?  Do you empower yourself to act for good?

Or are you your own most powerful authority figure?  Do you insist on obedience and discipline; do you persist in punishing yourself for your mistakes?

And how much of that attitude -- the one with which you treat yourself and your temptations -- emerges out of your understanding of God?  Is your God a strict father figure, or a nurturing parent?

I ask these questions because -- well, if we're dealing with issues around temptation and discernment; if we're trying to learn to distinguish between the angels and wild beasts  -- especially those that live within our own interior deserts -- our answers can make a significant difference in our choices.  Is Lent, for you, about deprivation and sinfulness; about self-denial and punishment when we succumb?  Or is it about awakening to our own essential goodness?  You get to decide.