Good at Heart

“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are basically good at heart.”

Every time that I hear that, I get choked up. EVERY TIME. Every time that I hear it, say it, write it, think it, I get choked up. EVERY TIME.

For those who don't know, this is the last line from Anne Frank's diary. Again, for those unfamiliar with the story, Anne Frank was a Jewish girl whose family was hidden in an attic from the Nazis for three years. They ate when the family downstairs could bring them food. They had to be motionless when a Nazi entered the house until the Nazi left. This little girl survived difficulties that most of us can't imagine... and yet... the last entry in her diary before the Nazis took her away and gassed her was “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are basically good at heart.”

That's Christlike forgiveness, folks. That's like Christ on the cross saying “Forgive them father... they know not what they do.”

So why am I bringing this up? Because I want to remember it in my daily life. Whenever I hear people on opposite sides of a political issue insulting and belittling each other, I want to remember that both of these people are basically good at heart. When I hear a religious fanatic wishing Hell on one of their gay brothers or lesbian sisters, I want to remember that people are basically good at heart.

And it's tough.

I'm not even going to pretend that it's easy to do that.

Imagine...

Hitler was basically good at heart.

Osama Bin Laden is basically good at heart.

My ex-wife is basically good at heart. (That one is, perhaps, the hardest for me to type and believe... I can feel my left eyebrow lifting in sarcastic disbelief even as I write it.)

So what does this mean to me?

Well, as Christian, it means truly trying to practice the things that Christ taught us. Loving one another. Forgiving one another. Remembering that everyone is basically (say it with me) GOOD AT HEART.

So what brings this to mind for me? Well, again the other day I heard a conservative of my acquaintance defending America's lack of universal health care. This person calls himself a fundamentalist Christian, and somehow can STILL with a straight face argue against caring for his brothers and sisters.

This does not seem very good at heart to me.

This seems very, very BLACK of heart, as a matter of fact,.

So it's tough for me to reconcile this with the idea that everyone is basically good at heart.

Don't really have any final, Zen message for you here about how i've come to a massively greater understanding of my brothers and sisters or the secret to forgiving and loving one another... aside from just DOING it.

So I guess that I end with a request to any who read this. If you can reconcile refusing health care to the very people that Christ commanded that we care for, or denying our gay brothers and lesbian sisters the right to marry, please... drop that as a comment because I really do want to learn to do this.

And, as always...

Peace.

Randal