{"id":2517,"date":"2022-04-11T10:23:17","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:23:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/?p=2517"},"modified":"2022-04-11T10:24:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:24:14","slug":"the-value-of-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deborahblackwell.com\/?p=2517","title":{"rendered":"The Value of People"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n

By Deborah Blackwell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When “The Good Place\u201d came on, I couldn\u2019t believe that prime time TV would create a show depicting the Universe. More specifically, about the afterlife, and a way of being that is \u201cnot subject to rational analysis.\u201d*\u00a0 \u00a0While there may be a difference between the physical and spiritual realms, \u201cThe Good Place\u201d combined them for our viewing and pondering pleasure. The entertainment industry favored it and I did too. Philosophizing human ethics and morality deserves some praise.<\/p>\n

What was it about “The Good Place\u201d that made it so curiously good? A fundamental concept was summed up in one of the show\u2019s lines: \u201cYou humans take something wonderful and ruin it just a little bit so you can have more.\u201d<\/em> That resonates. What happens when we exchange morality for gain? We suffer.<\/p>\n

But this post isn\u2019t about suffering. It\u2019s the Good Post.<\/p>\n

My ex-husband\u2019s wife embraces the concept of blending families of divorce. \u201cWe\u2019re family,\u201d she said, when I asked her why she was coming to our aid after my dearest husband had unexpected surgery. She made us several meals, supplied groceries, and even brought flowers and balloons. When I offered to pay her, she said, \u201cNo way. I told you, we\u2019re family. Plus, I\u2019m trying to get into heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kindness and compassion are real for some people. \u201cHeaven\u201d is a thing. But in this lifetime's real-world chaos, true caring for others can feel in short supply. We are bombarded with bad news, and while it might be our civic responsibility to pay attention, it\u2019s hard to absorb. We\u2019re TV bystanders, watching in numbing horror, wondering what we can do\u2026donate, volunteer, say something supportive on social media. But what I realized, feeling the love from so many people for Sir Husband\u2019s situation, is that\u2019s what \u201cheaven\u201d is. It\u2019s in the morality of human experience.<\/p>\n

Love and fear are our two guiding feelings. They motivate everything we think, say, and do. Love expands, fear contracts. Love is \u201cpositive,\u201d fear is \u201cnegative.\u201d Love feels wonderful. Fear torments. Morality exists somewhere inside these feelings, and manifests depending on our stance. It's really what makes our world go \u2018round.<\/p>\n

Amidst the fear and uncertainty of Sir Husband\u2019s situation, I found myself in a good place. There are so many reasons to feel good, even though I tend to forget. What mattered most, was the value of the people in my life who reminded me that caring can have nothing to do with gain. They offered genuineness that opened a warm spot inside\u2014a spot about humanity that's been difficult to feel.<\/p>\n

When kindness elicits an existential moment of expanded gratitude, it generates good momentum beyond the self. Morality at its finest. And, a really Good Place to be.<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

*Alan Lightman, The Accidental Universe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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