Friday, August 24, 2007

On the topic of "Good"

This morning, after I dropped off Reilly at preschool, I called Shawn on the phone and we had a conversation about “good.” More specifically, we talked about the different types of good people out there.

There are people who are good because their religion tells them to be good. Others are good to get attention. The word that comes to mind with this type of good person is ‘martyr’. And by martyr I do not mean the I’ll-blow-you-up-with-my-car-bomb-type, but instead the I’m-holier-than-thou-type. (A kindler, gentler martyr.) And some are good because of an ethical reason aside from religion, because they think that the foundation of a good society is made of good people.

There are plenty of good people out there, and I don’t mean to come off as disparaging of any of these groups. What I am getting around to is one specific type of good person, the person who is good not because of what they are, or how they act, but simply because they are made up of the fabric of good. This person is good for no reason other than that he or she knows no other way to act.

Shawn and I were having this conversation about good because we are lucky enough to have a preschool teacher for Reilly that falls into this final category. Miss A. is a kindler, gentler soul, the type of person that you feel great about leaving your daughter with because if she absorbs even an ounce of her teacher’s goodness, she will become that much better of a person. As a parent, to be in her presence is to at once be relaxed and disarmed. Her patience, and her love for the children who are her students is nothing short of magic.

Also, she is a Florida State grad, which makes her good on yet another level.

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