By Nancy Patrick

I think I have become more naïve in my senior years than I was in midlife. I ponder such ideas as motivation, value, family, forgiveness, understanding, and all the other virtues Galatians 5:22-23 lists as fruits of the Spirit: joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I want to believe that most people exhibit goodness. We even hear about people who commit horrific acts saying, “But I’m really a good person.” What does that mean?

Dictionaries define goodness in several ways, but basically goodness means embracing morally upright and virtuous behavior. I recently rewatched a wonderful movie that depicts the complexities of being upright and virtuous. The Emperor’s Club, a 2002 film, stars Kevin Kline as a classics teacher in St. Benedict’s, an elite boys’ school somewhere in the northeastern United States.

Kline plays the part of Mr. Hundert, a tenured and respected teacher at this academy. Mr. Hundert, one of those teachers who completely immerse themselves in their fields of study and attempt to pass along that passion to their students, has several idiosyncrasies that both endear him to his students while at the same time supply them with material for jokes about him.

No one has ever questioned Mr. Hundert’s integrity as both faculty and students admire and respect him. Unfortunately, a new student named Sedgewick Bell enters the school and changes the lives of his contemporaries and challenges Mr. Hundert’s authority and patience.

In short, Sedgewick is the spoiled rotten son of a powerful politician who has consistently bailed his son out of every disciplinary situation of his life. This escape from responsibility has given Sedgewick liberty to break rules, defy authority, and cheat his way through life.

Mr. Hundert strives to reach Sedgewick to break the cycle of immorality and dissolution that governs the boy’s life. Unfortunately, his desire to help this troubled boy pushes this determined teacher to compromise his own conscience, thinking if he can give Sedgewick a helping hand, the boy will see the value of hard work and honesty.

To give Sedgewick the opportunity to become a better person, Mr. Hundert falsifies some test scores to give Sedgewick an advantage over the more deserving boy. All of these attempts to regenerate the boy fail miserably when Sedgewick cheats and forfeits the opportunity Mr. Hundert had given him.

Fast forward twenty years and Mr. Hundert receives an invitation from Sedgewick Bell, now a wealthy, successful businessman and politician. As he hosts a reunion for his classmates, he wants to honor Mr. Hundert by displaying his success, suggesting that he has indeed become an upright and honorable man.

To his great dismay, Mr. Hundert discovers that Sedgewick has not changed at all. He still lives the corrupt and immoral life he had as a teenager. The weight of the wrong Mr. Hundert had done to the deserving student whose place he had given Sedgewick many years ago weighed heavily on him.

This movie tells a thought-provoking story about goodness. In Genesis 18, we read the story of God’s plan to destroy the wicked city of Sodom. Abraham pleads with him to reconsider such a drastic action if Abraham can find fifty good people in Sodom. Surely, God would take pity and spare the city.

He begins bargaining with God because he evidently knows he can’t find fifty good people in such a wicked place. He barters until he goes from fifty to ten good people, and God agrees to spare the city for those ten.

We know that didn’t happen because not even ten good people lived in Sodom. Goodness is a rare and precious gift from God. Good people are not perfect people, but they certainly must possess qualities that illustrate their desire to avoid wickedness.

That list of virtues from Galatians provides a good place to begin a journey that pursues goodness.  We must consider our motivation in making choices. If our motivation stems from selfishness, that is not goodness. Do we seek to understand others’ points of view and forbear harsh criticism? Are we kind and gentle with our words and deeds? Can we control our anger and selfish desires?

Anger, despair, dishonesty, greed, and violence pervade our culture. Peace must begin somewhere with someone. I hope I live to see a kinder, more just, more loving culture develop from the present dearth.

Nancy Patrick is a retired teacher who lives in Abilene and enjoys writing