Comments | izhilzha: "Great" Vs. "Good"

izhilzha

"Great" Vs. "Good"

Feb 16, 2007 09:53

"[I fear] a cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them, until all chance of doing great deeds is gone, beyond recall or desire."

( To be great or to be good...that is the question )

lotr, lost, real life, godstuff, contemplative

Comments 17

whitemartyr February 17 2007, 00:52:15 UTC

Oh my friend. This is lovely and I feel it. I hear it. I know it's true. I know it too.

It's interesting how much, strangely (or not?) this stuff has come into my brain via Doctor Who. The show rises up in me this fervent desire to be more, to be good and fully myself as a storyteller and as Kimberley.

It is quite a journey this, life, isn't it?

*hugs* You are quite something, my friend.

izhilzha February 17 2007, 01:09:19 UTC

Thank you--I'm glad it was clear enough. :-)

And would it embarrass you if I told you that part of this post came out of getting that card from you? (Along with Doctor Who, and God, and LOST, and my new ministry position, and, and....)

tomh1138 February 17 2007, 01:52:14 UTC

Yeah, that was a really good read. I was thinking similar things after LOST on Wednesday as well.

It's hard sometimes coming to a crummy job where one feels that no one has any respect for you. But what if--just what if--doing that seemingly mediocre job, i.e. pushing the button--ends up being the most important thing that you ever do in your life?

It's a lot to think about, for sure.

izhilzha February 18 2007, 18:29:31 UTC

I think the moment of the most abrupt contrast between "great" and "good" I got from Desmond was at the end. He knows he can't ultimately save Charlie, his "great" call doesn't extend that far, doesn't allow for it...but despite that, he has to try. And because he tries, he's put off death for Charlie at least twice so far.

Penny called him a good man. That's exactly what he is, in making choices like that.

(lovely icon, btw!)

Thread 6

kerravonsen February 17 2007, 11:41:30 UTC

Yes.

I can't help be reminded of the bit in "The Great Divorce" where they come across the lady who is great in Heaven, who, when she was on Earth, wasn't considered important at all by worldly standards.

Yet at the same time, I also every now and then get the nagging feeling that I ought to be trying to be "great", not for my own aggrandizement, but that I ought to be trying to achieve "great things". That I'll never be "good enough". That I will have "wasted" my life...

Being quietly faithful doesn't necessarily give one a lot of feedback that one is achieving anything worthwhile...

izhilzha February 17 2007, 17:44:05 UTC

Yet at the same time, I also every now and then get the nagging feeling that I ought to be trying to be "great", not for my own aggrandizement, but that I ought to be trying to achieve "great things". That I'll never be "good enough". That I will have "wasted" my life...

Oh, goodness, me too. All the time. In fact...it wasn't until I reread this after I posted it that I realized that my point of view has really shifted. I've always been one who strives for excellence, and wanted desperately to do great things, to NOT waste my life.

After writing this, I noticed that I actually do believe it...which is quite a turn from what I've always felt in my heart. Healthy, I think, but I hadn't realized there'd been such a change.

superversive February 17 2007, 21:19:42 UTC

I know the feeling exactly.

I suppose I’ve always felt (and still feel) that I have to be great, because being good isn’t an option. By this I do not mean that I cannot be good; I mean that I don’t find it meritorious to be good. It is merely a necessary minimum, and God knows I often fall short even of that. Saints earn merit not by their goodness, but by the greatness of their goodness, if you follow me; and I am not remotely in their class. Nobody hands out diplomas for graduating kindergarten.

kerravonsen February 17 2007, 21:47:02 UTC

But remember that "he that is faithful in little is faithful also in much"; we can only be faithful in the NOW, because NOW is the only time when we can act.

Thread 7

scionofgrace February 18 2007, 02:37:05 UTC

Yes. Excellent.

I find myself using the word "good" more sparingly than "great." "Great" can be flashy or entertaining or wild or whatever, but "good" means solid, true to the core, beneficial, edifying. In the end, "good" lasts longer than "great."

God called his creation "good." That means a lot.

izhilzha February 18 2007, 18:14:08 UTC

"good" means solid, true to the core, beneficial, edifying. In the end, "good" lasts longer than "great

Yes. Exactly what you said. Gosh darn it, I say something and you usually manage to rephrase it even better. :-) Thank God for putting you on my flist

kalquessa February 20 2007, 19:52:57 UTC

Excellent post, and your timing is perhaps better than you know, since Lent starts tomorrow, and this is a perfect subject for consideration during the Lenten season.

(Oh, and thank you for making that connection with Eowyn, that just makes the piece even better.)

izhilzha February 20 2007, 20:44:48 UTC

I really hadn't thought about this being a very Lenten topic, but I guess it kind of it, isn't it? :-)

thank you for making that connection with Eowyn, that just makes the piece even better.

It sort of made itself. I put in the first quote as the header, because that's the most familiar phrasing of the desire for greatness that I know, the most intimate to me. And then at the end I realized that her quote of revelation (if you will) suited choice/longing to make those choices for goodness instead.

Why don't I have an Eowyn icon?