Do All the Good You Can
-by Steve Goodier-

Someone advised, "If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague." But kindness and goodness extend far beyond how we talk about each other. The person who dares to be good -- and DO good -- may have to find the heart to stand up and be counted.

Not too long into the American Civil War the Union finally won a victory at Antietam. President Lincoln used the occasion to produce a proclamation to free American slaves. He called his cabinet together and laid the document before them. He had been shaking the hands of well-wishers all morning and his arm and hand were stiff. He rested his arm and spoke to Secretary of State William Seward.

"If my name ever goes into history, it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I sign the Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say, 'He hesitated.'"

Then he picked up a pen and signed "Abraham Lincoln" in bold writing. That signature, coupled with a later Union victory, changed the course of history forever. American slaves were finally freed.

It's not always about being nice. It's about doing the right thing. And it was never put better by anyone than by eighteenth century church reformer John Wesley:

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."



This one's for you Nia. You are so good for me.

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