Except in the rarest of cases, every decision we make is motivated by an outcome we perceive to be good. We are all pursuing happiness in one form or another. Consciously or unconsciously, we are always judging potential choices or actions as to whether or not they will serve others or ourselves in a manner that is life-enhancing. Fundamentally, we are oriented toward goodness, but to a greater or lesser extent, we are all blinded by ignorance and unable perceive what is truly good. Of course we make choices that are destructive, but even our worst choices are effectively the result of chasing our imagined good outcomes.
Francis’ words underscore three essential truths in relation to our pursuit of goodness. First, we are fundamentally oriented towards what is good. Secondly, goodness is an eternal, unchanging force within creation and not reducible to a culturally determined construct. Lastly, God is the very essence of goodness. There is no such thing as your goodness or my goodness. The experience of goodness is always a participation in the one singular stream of God’s goodness. For example, when parents love and nurture their children they are actually channeling God’s goodness. If we want to experience and express goodness in our lives, we must go to the source of all goodness, God. Through prayer and meditation, we must dive deeper and deeper into the ocean of God’s loving goodness. Francis brought incredible levels of goodness into the world because he became one with the force of God’s blissful, loving goodness. Yogananda reminds us, “God is ever new joy.
”Divine God,
Everything, everything,
That is good
Comes from you,
For you are
The fullness of all good.
