A Good Man is Hard to Find - February 11
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm [83] or 146, 147; PM Psalm 85, 86; Isa. 60:1-17; 2 Tim. 2:14-26; Mark 10:17-31
Warning: This reflection is intended for mature audiences only. And while I say this jokingly, I am about to write about a pretty dark story and do want you to be prepared in case you need to file away for a later time or skip altogether.
One of my favorite authors is the Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor, a devout Catholic who died in 1964. While she did publish two novels, she is most well known for her short stories which often deal with elements of the Christian Faith. While her stories are especially challenging and dark, they convey important truths of the Christian faith that other approaches often cannot illumine to the same effect. Of her short stories, one of the most well-known is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” written in 1953. You can read it here if this reflection doesn’t scare you away.
The story is about a family that heads off on vacation from Georgia to Tennessee. The grandmother, who is as pretentious as possible, talks them out of visiting Florida because an escaped convict named ‘The Misfit’ has just broken out of prison. The grandmother believes with all of her heart that she is a wonderful and loving lady, but the reader can easily see through the shiny veneer to her judgment and self-righteousness that define her character.
Well, the family has an accident, and who should come along, but The Misfit and his crew. At the end of the story, The Misfit leads the grandmother out in the woods to kill her and she begins pleading for her life. They begin to talk about faith and the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, a story The Misfit is struggling to believe. The Misfit is clearly upset and the grandmother reaches over to comfort him. And in the only moment of true empathy in the story, the grandmother breaks from her judgmental air and self-righteousness and touches his shoulder saying, “Why you're one of my babies. You're one of my own children!"
The Misfit recoils “as if a snake had bitten him,” and shoots her dead. When one of the Misfit’s entourage asks him if she was a good lady, The Misfit responds in one of the most haunting lines in all of literature: "She would of been a good woman, if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life."
It’s probably important to know that O’Connor was a very faithful Christian who truly wrestled with important theological questions. She radically affirmed that Christianity was not only freedom from death, but it gives us the power not to be afraid of death. For this reason, she can write about death in a way that while is shocking, forces us to wrestle with our belief system.
Now that I have given you a very dark illustration, an easier illustration is when a man comes to Jesus saying, “Good Teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life.” Jesus’ response is not what we expect as he says, “No one is good but God alone.” When I think of much of my own life, even the motivation today as a priest, it is to be good. And don’t get me wrong, we should try to be good, and most of you all have created a life that is filled with doing really good and charitable things, things that we should celebrate, and use to point to beauty and hope in this world. But we are also human, and while we strive to be good, this does not make us good in itself. For example, I would have been a better person my whole life, if The Misfit was right there.
As startling as these stories are, they can also be seen as remarkably hopeful. The Misfit and the grandmother are arguing about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. The grandmother knew this to be true. See, I think most of us believe that we make good decisions or are inherently good (even if we are actually 99.7% filled with good motivations) and yet we find ourselves in conflict with each other advocating for our goodness. Think of all of the people who you vehemently dislike their positions and viewpoints and yet probably admire many other things about them. We, out of our desire to be best, right, or good are in conflict with one other. And yet we can’t seem to ‘good’ ourselves out the mess we have made. It’s a good thing Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. That God is good, and God has the power to change everything else.
So while it’s probably important to strive for goodness, let’s worry more about our belief in God’s love to transform the world and turn to God for grace and mercy.
John+
Questions for Self-Reflection: What are the risks (or shadow side) of believing you are an inherently good person? How do we reconcile that with the call to act in love towards all?
Daily Challenge: Pay attention today and see if there are moments where motivation can be mixed in with the need for affirmation. If this happens, write it down to remember later.