DEALING WITH EVIl IN DAILY LIFE

 

 

Noon lunch was very sobering and hurtful!

 

Last week I stopped for noon lunch at the highway Tim Hortons. Almost all the customers were picking up their orders and moving on. A gray-haired biker (he wore the correct leather jacket with emblems) rudely passed in front of me; without any ‘excuse me.’

 

I took my sandwich and sat one table removed from this gentleman and his correctly dressed woman. He started berating her! He was angry and mean. He told her that if he got his socks wet (it was raining on the highway) he would leave her here! It was hurtful; painful and very degrading towards this cowering woman.

 

I did offer a very brief prayer for the man. I walked to my own vehicle feeling very conflicted by this very evil conversation. The entire episode made me consider the reality of evil and destruction.

 

First, we must acknowledge that  evil is very real and at times, very close! We live in a culture that is very reluctant to identify evil in daily life; especially in the lives of the people who can be very close to us. The culture is slow to name the evils of domination and destroying the other with hateful words. We allow key political figures to utter the most outrageous and hurtful things about others. 

 

We need to be alert that we are not drawn into the hateful remarks of others. The angry words of this middle-aged man on a motor- bike was very painful. It lessened my pride in being human.

 

There are two movements going at this same time: rejecting evil and planting goodness. Not only must we not be drawn into the cesspool of evil, but we are challenged to take personal responsibility to plant goodness and justice in the world. 

 

This is where God’s Spirit is working in every  humans; whether we are aware of it or not. We ae being moved and challenged to treat every human being (no matter what their social status) with respect and dignity. We may not listen or respond to these movements of the Spirit but they are very real. Just the fact that a human being may have guilt feelings over some deliberate, hurtful remark is the left-over of the Spirit moving us toward goodness. 

 

To use a garden image: we are to pull up the dandelions and plant potatoes. Turn the moments of evil into moments of growth and human thriving. 

 

The remainer of the trip was sobering. May we never be pulled into the cesspool of evil and destructive remarks but bring goodness to others; even when it is raining on your highway trip!