Do you believe in the goodness of people?

Do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you step off the subway and walk past the homeless lining the tunnel, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you turn on the news and see the latest person sent to death row, this one for blowing up an office building with a daycare, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you read a history book that details the atrocities of the death camps in Germany in WWII, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you listen to the radio and hear of the latest suicide bombers on the other side of the world, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you walk down the street to work and watch as person after person walks by a young mother struggling to get her baby’s stroller through a cafe entrance, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you drive down the highway and swerve to avoid the trash thrown out the window of the car in front of you, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you go to the grocery store and see a man grab his young son by the arm and scream at him for tasting a grape, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When the kids (not your own) ask why they didn’t have more gifts from you under the tree this Christmas, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When the New Year arrives and the poor are still poor, the hungry are still hungry, the unloved are still unloved, and the forgotten are still forgotten, do you believe in the goodness of people?

Do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you see a new mother smile at her baby, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you hear the wonder and joy in a child’s voice upon seeing their first rainbow, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When the parking garage attendant lets you out with a wink and a wave on Christmas Eve, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When a stranger catches your favorite hat as it blows away from you down the street, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When a man drives through a blizzard to take insulin to a stranger, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you discover that your neighbor is the one who’s been clearing the snow from your walk every morning, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When you sit glued to the news in the days after 9/11 and see the spontaneous memorials and tributes from around the world, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When a stranger lets you have their place in line because you look tired, do you believe in the goodness of people?

When the New Year arrives and the flag still waves, do you believe in the goodness of people?