Believe in Good? OK, but what does it actually mean?
BY MAJOR GRANT SANDERCOCK-BROWN*
Believe in good. It’s a little slogan, and honestly, its smallness means it probably has lots of meanings. But it is not without meaning. And it says something. I certainly hope we wouldn’t argue for the opposite, ‘Don’t believe in good’. Good and goodness matter. Of course, it is possible to not see good, to ignore it, or even to mock it. I don’t think we should. To believe in good and to see goodness all around us matters more than we might think.
You might ask, what do I mean by good? A freshly baked croissant is good, and an ocean swim on a hot day is good, but that’s not what I think our slogan is about. Julia Baird has written a wonderful book titled Bright Shining. And as you might suspect when a book’s title is coopted from the hymn Amazing Grace, her book is about grace and the bright shining moments of grace that are all around us in the extraordinary and supremely ordinary events of our lives. Baird points out in her book that “there is a small mountain of studies showing that when we witness acts of profound virtue and moral beauty, we are uplifted”. And her descriptive words express what I think about when I say ‘I believe in good’ as well as offering a very good reason for so doing.
We need to seek ways of being that uplift us because we live in an information age where we are often overwhelmed with distressing images, stories, and news. Political narratives are too often based on playing to our fears and disturbing our peace. Of course, we know why. Fear sells newspapers and makes headlines. Fear gets clicks on social media. Fear, far too often, makes the world go round! However, to believe in good, seek the good, and desire to be good is to intentionally shape our lives another way.
Baird’s ideas echo the words of the Apostle Paul. In a letter to the church in Philippi, his advice was, “whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, praiseworthy, think on such things” (Phil. 4:8). Focus your mind and heart there, he urges, and the God of peace will be with you. Look at the goodness, beauty and love around you and allow these things to shape your heart and hopes.
Of course, Christians believe that all goodness has its source in God. So, it is no surprise that God’s people expect to see good and believe in good. We know that wherever we see acts of profound virtue and moral beauty, we see traces of the divine. God is good, God is at work in the world he loves, whether we recognise it or not.
“In a culture riddled with anxiety and fear, we need to seek the goodness and love and beauty, bright shining, all around us.”
I have seen a Salvo case worker calmly and patiently absorb the violent words and anger of a desperate addict because her goodness and compassion for him were bigger than her fear for herself. I have seen an anxious and worried mother walk into a beautifully decorated space to choose Christmas gifts for her children and weep tears of gratitude for the generosity of others. I have seen a Salvo officer gently kiss and then stroke the forehead of an ill woman in her undignified dying.
In a culture riddled with anxiety and fear, we need to seek the goodness and love and beauty, bright shining, all around us. We need to believe in it and, above all, create it. I believe that one day, God will set everything right, that there will be no more mourning or crying or tears or pain, and that we will live in the eternal goodness of God. That day is not yet here. But until it is, I will believe in good; that there is great good in the world, in people, in marvellous acts of kindness and generosity. In extraordinary sacrifice and bravery. In quiet courage and unrelenting compassion. And in the good of a thousand daily actions of ordinary Salvo workers and volunteers who create these shining moments of goodness that transform people’s day and sometimes their lives.
So, yes, I believe in good. Why wouldn’t I?
*Major Grant Sandercock-Brown is the Corps Officer at Nambucca River (NSW) and an Adjunct Lecturer for Eva Burrows College
