Goodness is Bliss

The news is filled with stories of terror, murder, and senseless violence. Some days it is hard to believe that there are good people left in this world. I’ve been in a funk lately because it has been almost a year since my daddy died and there are days when I’m not sure if the goodness, decency, humanity, and work ethic that my daddy embodied still exists in this world anymore.

I met a man today who made me get outside of myself and realize that there is still goodness and decency in this world, you just have to be open to seeing it. The cab driver who took me from the Chattanooga Airport to my hotel was a nice older Southern gentleman. Even though he was a wizened black man, when he spoke, it was like listening to my daddy. He had that sweet Southern drawl that fills space with its graciousness and makes you believe that everything will be all right. He spoke of ordinary things like work, family, church, but as I listened, I realized that the values he espoused where those of my father.
He had to go to a church meeting after dropping me off and rather than just show up late, he called to make sure they knew he was still coming. He showed this courtesy even though he told me his church was a “Primitive Baptist” church and everyone would be at least 30 minutes late anyway. That sparked a conversation about the value of being on time and he told me he’d worked at a company for 36 years and hadn’t been late even one day. That told me he shared the same work ethic that my daddy embodied his entire work life.
We ended up talking about good people and he said that good people were to be found everywhere and it didn’t matter what race. He told me about a group of Asian businessman he’d driven to a hotel and they’d invited him out for drinks. He didn’t take them up on it, but he was thrilled to have been asked.

Our encounter was brief and I’m sure to him it wasn’t anything special, just a ride to the hotel with a white Northerner, but to me it was a reminder that goodness, decency, and humanity were not my father’s alone and that all I needed to do to find them was to look and to listen.
I miss you Daddy!

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Raine Shakti

Raine Shakti believes in living her life cairn by cairn and in helping others learn to do the same. Her day job is in the training and communications field and her best professional experiences are when she is able to empower people. She has spent the last few years reclaiming her life and her inner warrior. Part of this journey was becoming an ordained priestess with the Fellowship of Isis. Her Matron deities are Nephthys who has helped her become a true virgin woman, the Morrigan who has taught her what it means to be sovereign, and Yemaya who has taught her the strength in having a loving heart.

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