Did you see the TV show 60 minutes 2 Sundays ago? One segment had to do with evaluating babies with puppets to see if they had a preference for “good” or for “bad.” The first part of that segment had babies (about 3-6 months) watch a puppet show where one puppet hurt another puppet, and then another puppet helped that same hurt puppet. Later they presented both puppets to each baby to see which they would grab. Over 75% of the time, the baby grabbed the nice puppet. Even with babies who were too young to grab, they stared at the nice puppet and ignored the mean puppet.
The entire segment is fascinating as they did other experiments with puppets and babies. You can find it on YouTube under “60 minutes – Born Good.” Anyway their conclusion is that we are basically born good, that is we are attracted to good things and good people. And that we have an inherent goodness inside of us.
I have always believed that. Especially when we look at the “original sin” of Adam and Eve that many use as proof that humans are inherently bad. What those people forget is the Garden of Eden story appears in Chapter 3 of the first book of the bible (Genesis). Chapter 1 of Genesis has God creating . . . the sky, the waters, the animals, etc. and each time saying “It is good” . . . and after God created humans God says, “It is good.” He doesn’t say, “It’s bad, I’ll fix it later.” God’s first words about us are . . . “you are good.”
Well, why do we do mean things? Why do we hurt others? For example, like what happened to Jeremiah in the first reading. Well, we get a glimpse in the second reading which is a letter to the Hebrews. The author mentions a metaphor that is dear to my heart. He (or she, we don’t know who wrote the letter to the Hebrews) mentions “running.” I love it, as you know I am a runner. I love to put in my time running summer or winter. The author says “let us preserve in running the race that is before us.”
So let me show how that works. I need a volunteer. [Have a child come up] I assume that you know how to run, correct? Well what happens if a put this on you? [Place empty boxes on the runner. The boxes have various titles on them . . . e.g. worry, procrastination, impatience, waste, gossip] Now try running. How is it going? Of course you can still move, but it is hard.
The Hebrews letter also says (just before the running metaphor) that we should “rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us.” [Start taking off the boxes of burden] the reading continues with “and preserver in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.” Most often our biggest challenge is ourselves. The comic strip Pogo says, “We have met the enemy and the enemy is us.”
Writer William Arthur Ward came up with a list of burdens (or sins) to avoid:
Remorse over yesterday’s failures.
Anxiety over today’s problems.
Worry over tomorrow’s uncertainty.
Waste of the moment’s opportunity.
Procrastination with one’s present duty
Resentment of another’s success.
Criticism of a neighbor’s imperfection.
Impatience with youth’s immaturity.
Skepticism of our nation’s future.
Unbelief in God’s providence.
I believe that God created us “good.” But it is usually we, ourselves, who mess up our well-being. The “race” is before us. It’s been said that “Often in life, the solution to our problems comes not so much from what we start doing, but from what we stop doing.”