Day 44: The Line Between Good & Evil

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Another lesson I learned much too late in life is that nobody is as good as you think them to be and nobody is as bad.

I once wrote a letter to a hero of mine, Tony Campolo. I was applauding him for standing by a recently disgraced friend for whom he was offering spiritual guidance. To my surprise I received a letter back from him and one of the lines of his letter that has stuck with me was, "Remember Jim, the line between good and evil runs through the middle of every person." Thinking about that line tonight inspired me to write something.

The Line Between Good & Evil

On pedestal high we place our saints
and know of them only good.
We polish their halos and dust their crowns
carefully ignoring the cracks as we should.

We hang on every word, each deed
and follow them without question.
We sing their songs and raise their flag
while faithfully defending the bastion.

In places low and with legion looming
we see our enemies emerge.
With fist-clenched canon and sharpened tongue
we seek their thoughts be purged.

We guard our children, we build our walls
and keep them at a distance.
We're sure that heaven's true reward
is saved for the resistance.

But what we fail to notice,
but see I think we must.
Is that the line between good and evil
runs through the middle of each of us.

Camera info: Subjects were lined up on a piece of glass atop a black piece of mat board. They were lit with a table lamp. 85mm lens on tripod mounted camera. 1/80 sec at f/1.4. ISO 100.