Make the World Good

I remember many, many years ago - when I was a young mom - pushing my three-year-old daughter Abbey on the swing. The swing set was one of those metal and plastic backyard contraptions, the legs of which eventually pull loose from the ground. I recall the sun was bright overhead, outlining a few cottontail clouds floating between us and heaven.

Innocent in toddler-sized shorts and Velcro tennis shoes, Abbey was too young to understand such things as terrorism, war, pandemics, or other such earthly evils. Instead, our conversation was simple with chatter about her favorite fruit and what we should do that afternoon. I was mid-sentence when she stiffly gripped the swing’s chains.

“Sssshhh!!” She scolded, beaming her softball eyes into the sky as if an alien hovered above her.

Pulling her swing to a stop, I listened too, humored by the way she cocked her head at a 90-degree angle.  “What is it?” I dared to ask.

“Shhh!! Shhhhhh!!” she rebuked again, craning her ear even further toward the clouds. “God’s talking!” 

I looked up and took a mental snapshot of the sky. Who was I to interrupt God?

I couldn’t see His face, but I could see hers, and she was definitely listening to someone. For several seconds, her eyes darted back and forth, as if she was being told a secret. Then she smiled, resuming her cherub appearance. 

“What did he say?” I asked, incredulous.

  “Make the world good.” 

Her answer was direct, simple, and matter-of-fact, as if she was reporting the weather or telling the time—things she didn’t yet know how to do. But then, I didn’t know she could hear God.  She started pumping her legs again, earnestly moving the swing into motion. God made His request and that was that.

But I was curious. “Did he say anything else?”

“No.”

That exchange comes to mind often as I watch today’s news. I can’t help but wish it were that easy. Can we truly make the world good when bad stuff seems to dominate the headlines?

From government studies to Gallup polls, an increasing number of people hate their jobs, hate others, hate their circumstances, hate authority, and hate themselves. A 2020 article called Understanding the Psychology of Hatred quotes, “The viciousness haters display comes from their ability to morally disengage from their actions and create excuses for the hatred they feel or the suffering that they consciously cause.”

I believe evil finds haven in the hearts and minds of those who welcome it.

Jesus said the same thing. “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come.”

No one makes you hate another person. It’s a conscious choice. Even Ralph Waldo Emerson advised, “You are what you think all day long.” So, wouldn’t it benefit us to think good things about ourselves and each other more often? 

Thought by thought, we can choose good over evil and make the world a better place. I mean, all things are possible if we listen when God speaks.