Editorial September 17, 1990 Issue

Being good makes a difference to the world

Ann Kenrick

The world needs so much help. How can I be good enough to make a difference? Better people than I have tried to improve things and failed. How can I be good enough?

This kind of questioning is probably more prevalent now than at any time in the last several decades. Humanity is beginning to have a much clearer focus on what needs to be done to help the world. But how can we be good enough to do it—individually and collectively?

There is a story in the Bible that can help us. Once, a young man asked Christ Jesus how he could do enough good to inherit eternal life. Jesus' profound answer probably gave the questioner more instruction than he had bargained for! The Gospel of Matthew records their conversation. "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" the young man asked. Jesus replied, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Then Jesus emphasized what the Mosaic Decalogue has to say about the way to live, adding the all-important summary, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

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