Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
What Does It Mean to Be Good?
After listening to the most recent GLOP podcast, I started to think about the meaning of being good. John Podhoretz mentioned the death of Gene Wilder; he shared that Wilder had been obsessed with being good. Anything taken to an extreme, such as an obsession, can be a detriment to our lives: the obsession becomes the center of our universe and everything else is secondary. The story caused me to think about my own commitment to being good, what that meant to me, and how I acted upon it.
As a child, I practiced being good to avoid getting into trouble! But as I matured, I realized that intuitively I wanted to do good because G-d expected me to. Finally, I chose to be and do good because I wanted to serve G-d. Although goodness is partly an “inside job,” it is also demonstrated in how we act in the world. So I can think about good things I’d like to do, but unless I actually do them, I am not fulfilling my understanding of being good.
I spent a little time exploring how others saw being good. In one article the writer suggested the following:
Always ask yourself: Am I defining “good” as that which looks good to the fast-food-Internet-Hollywood segment of society, or am I defining “good” as that which has real meaning, a deep message, and makes a valuable contribution to society?
To be good, we also are called to do things that we really don’t want to do, or that are unpleasant. To be with my husband who has a condition that causes him to cough, often loudly, can be challenging. How can I be a good person around him and in a way that helps him? There are times when I think I can’t bear another moment. But then I stop my flailing thoughts, breathe deeply, continue my knitting or reading, and allow him to do what he needs to do; that, for me, is being good.
I also love to lead my meditation group and to be a hospice volunteer. Visits with friends and being present for them are also ways to be good. Being good for me also demands that I only do as much as I can, physically, spiritually and emotionally. Lots of people spread more goodness than I do, but I know my limitations, and to be good for everyone, including myself, I find a balance in those activities.
Am I always good? Hardly! Sometimes I am selfish, self-centered and clueless. But I am also human. And like many folks, I do my best.
Some of you may think that you do things in the unfolding of your lives but you don’t think about whether they are good or not. You just do them because they call to be done. In my view, that is the actualization of a deeply held goodness.
So my heart goes out to someone like Gene Wilder. I expect that he was a good person, even if he was obsessed with being good. My hope for him is that he was able to embrace his goodness in ways that were fulfilling and rewarding for him, as well as for others.
So what does it mean for you to be good? What is your own definition? Why is it important to you? How do you teach it to your children? How do you act upon it in the world?
Published in Religion & Philosophy
well, you dice the onion much more finely than I do. You would have to define ” incompatible with what?” I made my comment concerning does God grade on the curve, and I believe there is no measuring up. I guess I did not make that clear. All have sinned and fall short…..but the gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God is not like Hemingway who dismissed someone from his entourage be cause “he did not measure up.” Least ways, that’s the way I see it.
Good work, Zelda!!
I think ‘creative’ is probably the wrong word – although there isn’t a great one in English. Melacha (מלאכה) is the Hebrew one. In this vein, I think productive is probably a better word – being a maker. Evil is loss and destruction and risk (in-directly). Good is addition, creation and removal of risk.
But even His creation is not necessarily good. Things that aren’t creative (dark, Sabbath and man) aren’t ‘good’ even though G-d made them.
Man knows good through evil because he creates in reaction to loss. It is a fundamental conservative principle – bad things (risk) drive people to get jobs and be creative. Communism deadens creativity. They are opposites that drive one another.
Very helpful, Richard. I’m guessing that “dark” and “Sabbath” aren’t productive, because they aren’t meant to be; the former does not “illuminate” and the Sabbath is about “rest,” but why was man not “good”?
Or is man not good until he becomes creative??
I would say that this is because man, as created in the Garden of Eden, was static. He had no productive role.
We become capable of goodness after we leave the Garden, and G-d commands us accordingly.
RH may have a different answer!
You said that so kindly, I feel like I should make a brief response (although I said I was bowing out). On one level, yes, of course, (as I understand it) a strict adherence to modern Judaism calls you to reject Jesus Christ as the Messiah and continue to wait for a Messiah yet to come. But, as you know, that has not always been the case. Jesus’ disciples (and most of his early non-Greek followers) were observant Jews who believed Jesus when he claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. When they followed Him, they in no way saw themselves to be rejecting their Judaism, they saw Him as a fulfillment of their ancient faith. (Of course, there many today who call themselves Messianic Jews, Jews for Jesus, or Completed Jews along the same lines.)
Which brings me to the second level of meaning, this gap is” breachable “and has been breached by the only one who can–a Jewish carpenter who was also God’s son.
Blessings to you iWe! Thanks for your patience here and kind repartee. Our prayer should always be, G-d, show us your truth.
The first sin is Cain’s. His desire is classified as chata – it implies a desire to do evil, to be destructive. This can be seen in Gen 50:17. Avon also first appears with Cain – regarding his self-regard after the fact – almost like guilt. The third (pesha) is translated as ‘trespass’ and is first used with Jacob’s defense against Lavan. It seems to imply a violation of the rules.
I don’t know if IWe shared Quantum Spirituality – but I think this is the ultimate reason they got booted: https://youtu.be/fq18H6X5i3o
Exactly. He could have been good in the Garden – but he didn’t actually live up to that potential. It is a very conservative idea – people in a Communist Eden don’t make much with their lives and it undermines their fundamental purpose.
Sharing another video: https://youtu.be/fFG0yzsKx60
:)
We were capable – we just didn’t live up to it. Our great objective as humans, I believe, is to learn how to combine the security and safety with productivity – like G-d.
As a person who has gone negative to bring out good, I have noticed that the civility and good threads bring out the negative at times. It is part of human nature that in showing the good a person explains the mistakes of others. When we half joking and half seriously express how we are tops at being bad, there is a sense of camaraderie. I learned this lesson when I first ran the Worst Poster (Writer) on Ricochet Election. This is a fund raiser to get the honor of getting the most $5 votes given to charity to win the election. What winds up happening is fun.
Well that sure put me in stitches. I’m still laughing.
Severely, you might want to explain yourself because it could be taken in different ways. @severelyltd
I wish I could get involved more here, but my brain is full and I just launched a new post that might take a lot of attention.
And, just now, I have to let the compy take a nap and charge, and drink water [or overcome pneumonia, or something like that], and memorize Scripture, and manage children.
Briefly, a few key points:
We have had a lot of people who have claimed to be Messiah. The latest significant one died in 1994. He acquired many followers.
The Jewish requirements for the messianic times are laid out in the Five Books of Moses: universal return to the land (perhaps even from the stars), extraordinary levels of productivity, curses on enemies, no sickness, no infertility, no service of other gods, etc… Beyond this Five Books description, we believe these times will bring universal peace and universal offerings to G-d in Jerusalem.
This is the Jewish Messiah. And I think it is clear that it has not come.
Jesus may well be the Messiah for Christians – I have no issue with that. We can all have different relationships with G-d and we certainly encourage that. But he can’t be the Jewish Messiah.
This is why Jesus and Judaism don’t match up. The early followers might well have believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but that became harder to maintain within the Jewish framework once he died and history continued as it did.
If the followers of the latest major Messiah keep it up (and many do), they too will splinter into another religion: one that follows similar laws but is not actually Judaism.
In terms of criteria for a *Jewish* Messiah, the 1994 guy came a lot closer. But he still didn’t make the cut.
Don’t worry, Dime. I got a laugh out of it, too.
One way a woman keeps her mouth shut about certain things is by talking of others.
I can’t properly talk on the phone. Two swift remarks. Then, hopefully, I’ll have the sense to be quiet for a bit.
If Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah, he’s not the Christian one either.
Note that we believe He came, did stuff, left, and is coming back. Naturally, He didnt fulfill every single prophecy the first time around.
Re: 21 by DocJay
Now that’s what you call good.
I’ve got a long way to go, but good is in the direction of the day you describe.
From a Jewish perspective, which did he accomplish or even move the needle on? Universal return to the land (perhaps even from the stars)? extraordinary levels of productivity? curses on enemies? no sickness? no infertility? no Jewish service of other gods? How about reinforcement of Torah law?
The match isn’t there. He helped sell monotheism – to non-Jews.
The argument for the Rebbe (whose followers also believe he will be resurrected to finish the job and who remain observant of Jewish law) is that steps were taken in all of these directions during his life and he may well have helped many of them. But in Jesus’ case, quite the opposite occurred. Shortly after his time the dispersion was enhanced, the land destroyed, the Romans tore down our homeland and Torah law was further weakened (you can blame Paul, but the relationship is there).
It took another 1900+ years for things to move in another direction.
Christianity is another religion – distinct from Judaism.
I’m cool with that – I have absolutely no need or desire to convert you to my faith. I encourage Christians to be strong in their faith. But it really bothers me when it represents itself as Jewish to Jews who belong on another path.
Psalm 25…my absolute favorite. To Thee oh God do I lift up my soul, Oh my God in Thee I trust ” One of the few I know by heart.
Could you identify the 1994 guy? I’d like to read up on him.
My feeling is that doing your duty sincerely results in joy, if not always in pleasure or happiness.
And I must agree with iWe – good is about doing, the heart and mind follow.
A quibble: I am not aware that he ever explicitly made the claim. Many of his followers did, though.
The Rebbe Menachem Schneerson. Full disclosure, I was an admirer of his (but far from a Messianic follower), of his. He did a lot of wonderful things.
Correct. He came real close… but arguably after he was of a much diminished mental state:
The following (at 7:58): https://youtu.be/887vWdyWXFg?t=473 – the video itself is fascinating for the charisma he displayed and the effect it had on the crowd. It still does.
And this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GqKpUguSVY
Others named him as such and he praised them – but only much later in life.
Earlier on, he very much discouraged it.
Many (most? all?) prophecies Yeshua has already fulfilled are documented by the authors of the New Testament. It’s best to read it there and see the documentation firsthand.
Those prophecies are all from the Old Testament. So, assuming they are genuine Messianic prophecies, they are all of Jewish interest.
Well, I don’t represent myself as Jewish, but I believe Jesus to be the Jewish Messiah. If that bothers you, maybe you shouldn’t wish me and my faith well. If He’s not the Jewish Messiah, I’m a darn fool and my faith is rubbish!
I wonder how the Christians following this feed would feel if there was a group calling themselves Jewish Christians. At the very least, I would think it would sound odd and contradictory. That is how I react to a group that calls itself Messianic Jews. They are welcome to call themselves anything they wish, but they are not Jews. And I find “Completed Jews” a bizarre term.
The viper understood. If she’s ever withheld her opinion, particularly when it’s wrong-headed and contrary to mine, I haven’t seen it.
I think most people would see Jewish Christians in the same way as they would see Italian Christians. It would not seem strange for an ethnic group.
Out of curiosity, are secular Jews not Jews too? How is that dealt with?
Secular Jews are Jews. They are defined not by faith or practice, but by birth.
There are essentially two groups – those who come into the religion and accept the commandments and covenants and those who are born into the nation and have the obligations whether or not they keep them.
The Torah is full of warnings of what happens to the Jewish people when they – as a nation – don’t keep the commandments. They remain Jews even as they follow other gods and are driven from their land. The identity stays with them.
This is one reason we discourage conversion – you take on obligations for yourself and your descendants that you don’t have if you aren’t Jewish.
So Jews aren’t an ethnic group, race or religion. We are a nation defined by a particular covenant with G-d and a specific role to play in the world around us.
That we often choose to ignore both doesn’t eliminate the identity.