Remnant of Faultlessness

   Whether or not they want to admit it, everyone strives to attain goodness. Mistakes and blunders of our human nature are often credited to a failed attempt at making things right, or the effect of a distorted perspective on what is acceptable. Perfection dissipated at the first bite of good and evil, but a remnant of faultlessness still remains. I believe that a person is not marked as “good” by who they are, but because of what they’ve done, and who or what compels them to do so. The following stanzas of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Psalm of Life” spill light on the keys to achieving goodness. 

          “Life is real! Life is earnest!

          And the grave is not its goal;

          Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

          Was not spoken of the soul.

          Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

          Is our destined end or way;

          But to act, that each tomorrow

          Find us farther than today.

          In the world’s broad field of battle,

          In the bivouac of Life,

          Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

          Be a hero in the strife!” (5-12; 17-20)

Not just “good”, but outstanding people who are destined for this see beyond the present, stand fast in their deliberate nonconformity, and are driven by something greater. 

   Life is short. People that stand out among the crowd of mediocrity recognize this, and make a point to carry out its full potential. They see beyond what lies in the past, and the frustrations or pleasures of the present. They are not perfect; mistakes are made, and tragedy doesn’t pick favorites for infliction. But oftentimes, the strongest are the ones that have suffered through the flames. Each day, they make it their goal to let the fire of their past refine them into a better person before the next sunrise. 

   Stand-outs are often labeled as chronic nonconformists. Their individualistic lives run against the grain of the popular vote of society. They stand up when everyone else chooses to sit. They sing when all else is silent. They dance when the whole world is watching. As Martin Luther King, Jr. states it, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” Apathy and indifference are not an option; passion and exuberance reign in the hearts of the good. 

   Every good person has a method to their madness, a rationale within them that directs them towards righteousness. Jesus carried the personhood of God, Mother Theresa served to glorify Christ, and missionaries around the world today may consider both to be their guiding lights. Those esteemed have others they look up to - they model themselves after the experienced and the wise. They look to the whispers of conscience to lead them to the road less traveled by.

   In conclusion, the qualities of the virtuous are love, joy, patience, peace, kindness, self-control, gentleness, nobility, and faithfulness. Not only are they good, they leave imprints on those who are touched by them, inspiring the affected to be good as well. Good people have an aerial perspective on every situation thrown their way, and they swim against the cultural current with a guiding compass. The last three stanzas of the poem “The Psalm of Life,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, sum up the essence of a good person:

          “Lives of great men all remind us
          We can make our lives sublime,

          And, departing, leave behind us

          Footprints in the sands of time; --

          Footprints, that perhaps another,

          Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,

          A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

          Seeing, shall take heart again.” (25-32)