Good

Dear one,
 
Once again—and I trust that I’m not merely being repetitive—I find myself pondering that four-letter word: “good.” That is, because of a recent, difficult moment, I’ve had further opportunity to consider how we use that word culturally. For instance, regularly we say or hear: “She’s really a good person”; “it was a good day”; “he really is a good kid”; or, “they’re really good people.”
 
For a moment, if you’re willing, muse with me:
            When I/we observe our common or colloquial use of language, context and comparison play an important role. Thus, when I note that “she is really a good person,” it’s very likely that she has done something “less than good”; that she has traits that are less than pleasing; and/or that she is unexceptional in most every regard. Nonetheless, “she really is a good person.”             
 
            In this example, context is operative, if she did something wrong; but perhaps even more significant, a comparison or standard is implied. If what she did was “bad” or “wrong,” we must have a common understanding of “bad” and “wrong.” Likewise, we must have a common understanding of what constitutes a “good person” in contrast to a “bad person,” and then what is meant by using the intensifier “really.” It could be that with this intensifier we mean: “evidence to the contrary, she possesses positive attributes”; or, we might mean: “with regard to her goodness, she is exceptional.” 
            And then there is the expression or utterance (British? American?): “Good God.” Perhaps at one time these two words were a heartfelt, prayerful address indicating either thanksgiving or hope. But then, as contexts and/or comparisons have shifted, together these words have become commonplace or hackneyed (profane?), so that they become a throw-away exclamation—and virtually meaningless, apart from expressing some fundamental emotion: i.e. fear, disgust, or anger.
 
            If you’re still willing to muse with me, I’m not suggesting that the word “good” has little inherent meaning; that it is fully dependent upon its context or a comparative contrast; but I would encourage that we probe with one another, rather than assume that we know, what is meant by the word “good.” That is, when in conversation, we might ask: “What do you mean ‘she is really a good person’?” 
            Or, in this same regard and thinking culturally, what would it mean if I offered: “Well, you know, Adam and Eve were really good people”? What would it mean if I said: “Cain really was a good man”? Given these last two questions, you might respond: “Oh please, Stan, get serious!” And yet, I’m afraid that’s what we’ve done with the word “good”: it has little serious or substantive content. 
 
            Perhaps something similar occurred when a rich ruler approached Jesus: “Good teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me ‘good’? No one is ‘good’ except one: God.” (Mark 10:17).
 
            Culturally and conversationally, I wonder what might happen if “God” became the context and comparative contrast in our use of the word “good”?
 
Pondering,
Stan