In a philosophy called “The Science of Mind,” we have a Principle, and that is that God is everywhere and that God is Good. Yes, this is true. When I use the term God, I am talking about the Power of the Universe, the Unlimited Potentiality, the Creative Intelligence, the Absolute. It moves and expresses through everything by creating from Itself. “Love is the self-givingness of the Spirit in terms of creation.”

This Power would include us – human beings. Each of us, according to the Science of Mind is a microcosm of this macrocosm. Our individuality is our conscious conception of this power. “How much good is available? As much as we can embody,” wrote Ernest Holmes.

The second Principle in the Science of Mind is “Choice & Volition.” As individualizations of the one Power we are always at choice. Our choice is where our consciousness of God begins and ends. Our choice creates our life experience. We can choose what we believe, what we think, how we respond or react to what life presents to us.

Another Principle of the Science of Mind is the Law of Cause and Effect. We are always causing effect.

Since I do not know what happens after this life, I can only talk about the here and now and what I experience here on earth. So, that is where I will focus my attention in this blog.

Most lately, the expression of life here on earth has shown me less than an expression of the Power of God/Good. I am bombarded daily by the corruption of our leaders, the mistreatment of our fellow human beings and more. Most recently, I am witness to the killing of small children in Bend, Oregon. My heart weeps.

Despite all of this, one thing I will never deny and that is that Good is the ultimate Reality with a big R. Our experience on earth does not make this Principle untrue.

While I was at Unity Village a couple of weeks ago at a retreat, I had the honor of listening to one of the relatives of César Chávez speak about his fall from grace when he was accused of rape and molestation and abuse. If you do not know who César Chávez was:

“César Chávez (1927–1993) was a Mexican American labor organizer and civil-rights activist who became the best-known leader of the U.S. farmworker movement. A former migrant farmworker himself, he helped build the organization that became the United Farm Workers and brought national attention to farmworkers’ wages, working conditions, and dignity.” Wikipedia

The question presented to us was this: Should we deny the good that César Chávez did because of the horrible behavior and hurt he committed? My answer is no. Just because a hero is capable of harmful behavior doesn’t make the good he did for people irrelevant.

“The Truth will be told even if a liar has to tell it,” said one of the speakers during the retreat.

The Truth is the Truth and no one can change that by their behavior. Just because the person cannot live that Truth doesn’t negate the Truth. The Truth does not become false because the messenger is flawed. But neither does the Truth excuse the messenger’s wrongdoing. Please do not confuse what I am saying.

Another person who assisted so many people as a healer was John of God. I know of several people who traveled to Brazil and were healed through their contact with him. As many of us know, he’s in jail now convicted of horrible sexual crimes. There was a woman at our conference whose husband had traveled to see him, and experienced six more years of life due to what he experienced with John of God. The woman was distraught because she wasn’t sure how she should feel about her husband’s miracle because of John of God’s fall from grace.

Again, the healings that John of God facilitated are not negated because he could not live the Principle that he taught. Also, what this brings home to me is the understanding of healing. It is done unto us as we believe. Perhaps these healings were more about the faith that these people had in John of God then they were about him. Perhaps, the healing belongs to the spiritual principle, not to the personality of the healer. And perhaps one of our greatest mistakes is confusing the messenger with the message. Can we stop making gods out of the people who are capable of being flawed.

And what of the idea of looking for the good in the darkness. Anne Frank was an example of this. She lived in a horrible dark world. She didn’t deny there was darkness. What she did affirm was that even in the darkness she believed that good was possible.

There is a quote by Ernest Holmes that goes something like this. If there weren’t more good in the world than evil, we couldn’t exist for a moment. Good is the ultimate Reality and it is our responsibility to look for it, to live it, despite the darkness.

There was another person at the conference/retreat who lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was up close and personal during the killings of Renee Goode and Alex Pretti. She wept as she talked about it and she also spoke firmly about the good that was present during that horrendous time: people caring for each other, feeding each other, bringing warmth to protestors with blankets and soup and food, giving money to assist those who needed it.

The good was not in the shootings. The good was in the human response to them. We can acknowledge the grief and anger, demand justice, and still recognize the compassion and courage that emerged.

Why is any of this important? Why am I so emphatic about bringing light into the darkness. I will never by-pass the pain that people experience, the tragedy that takes place every day. I will not deny that there is the presence of evil in the world. However, I will recognize it as a misuse of the Power. The creative power of the Universe is impartial. It doesn’t care how we use it. Just as electricity will light a house or electrocute those who use it improperly, the Power of the Universe will act according to our use of it.

This gives us the responsibility to use it with love and integrity. And as far as the fallen heroes are concerned and our disappointment in them and our loss of faith in goodness because of them, perhaps it is dangerous to put anyone up on a pedestal, to put our faith in another human being. Anyone can fall and their fall doesn’t make the power of love untrue.

“Love is a Cosmic Force whose sweep is irresistible.” This is my Truth. God is Love and I believe we are all walking each other home to that Truth. I might fall. I might stumble; but I do not deny the ultimate quest to live fully as love.

The experiences, the tragedies, the suffering we experience here on earth will be healed when each of us one by one find our own way of looking for and experiencing the good in our own personal experience and then bringing that out into the world.

In closing,

• Someone who has done tremendous good may also have done terrible harm.
• Someone who has committed a terrible act may have spoken an important truth.
• The truth does not become false because the messenger is flawed. But neither does the truth excuse the messenger’s wrongdoing.
• We cannot always choose what happens in the world. But we can choose whether the world’s darkness becomes the darkness within us.

And then, there is prayer. So many times, when there is a tragedy and when I say I will pray, the most common thing I hear is “We don’t need your prayers, we need action.

Affirmative prayer is not a substitute for compassionate action. It is the consciousness from which compassionate action can emerge. Perhaps the real question isn’t, “Where is the good in this terrible thing?” Perhaps it is: “Where is the good that is being called forth from me?” For me, prayer leads the way and action follows.

In closing: I believe in Good. I believe in a Universe governed by spiritual principles. I believe that the Divine Presence is everywhere, in everyone, and available in every moment.

But I do not believe that everything people do is good. I will not call abuse good. I will not call violence good. I will not call injustice good. And I will not use my spiritual beliefs to turn away from the suffering of the world.

Because perhaps the question is not whether there is good in everything. Perhaps the question is whether there is Good in me that has not yet been called forth.

Can I stand in the presence of darkness and refuse to become dark? Can I witness injustice and become an instrument of justice? Can I encounter cruelty and respond with compassion without surrendering my discernment? Can I look at a fallen hero and acknowledge both the good they accomplished and the harm they caused? Can I be a person who loves the Truth more than I love being right?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. It’s all part of the human experience. But what we choose to bring to that experience is where our spiritual power begins.

Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Co-Founding Spiritual Director CSL Kaua’i