.08 "meanwhile the world goes on"

when she said you do not have to be good,

because the truth is

you do not have to be right,

but you do have to be good — not perfect, simply good — and you have to believe

in the goodness of others —

your need to be right is firm as cement, binding the brick walls between us.

but when you believe in the goodness of others,

when you can see their humanity, when you desire to also be good —

you will want to fight for them

just as fiercely as you would fight for yourself.

the world does not just go on — not for us —

it takes many acts of humanity to make it so,

because the world simply does not need us — it will go on without us.

so, no,

it is not enough to love what the soft animal of your body loves.

you do not need to skin your knees,

but you must be good enough to love all of the other soft animals too —

to witness their despair

and their joy

and their fear

and their hope

and understand that while you have a place —

while you belong —

in the family of things —

they do too.

p.s.

taking a continued summer interlude from regular essays, but who knows? maybe content form will continue being loosey-goosey because i’m having fun with it. stay tuned!