Can you still see goodness in my heart?

Yesterday I was walking home from school around 9pm when I realize a man is following closely behind. Soon he is right next to me, just an inch from my elbow. This brief dialog followed:

"Excuse me." He says
"Yes?" I reply
"Can you still see goodness in my heart?" He asks
the question caught me a little off guard.
"What?" I asked.
"Can you still see goodness in my heart?" He repeated.
still a little woozy from a day in front of the computer i replied:
"yeah, i guess so..."

and with that he grinned, and ran off across Broadway.


The man haunted me all night. What did he mean? Then i sat down this morning to read the news.

Children in Africa are still being abducted as soldiers.

Can I still see the the goodness in their hearts?




Angry militants in Gaza continue to fire rockets at neighboring Israel, as Israel continues it's blockade and air strikes of the area.

Can I still see the the goodness in their hearts?



The news continues, war, oppression, corruption, greed. Sin. We are a fallen people, can I still see the goodness in our hearts? Yeah, i guess so. We are image bearers of God. Because He is good, i can't help but see good in all people. Despite the fall, I can still see goodness in our hearts.

I guess this means I have hope for humanity, but that hope can only prevail if the evil in our hearts is redeemed. Then goodness, our true image, will prevail. That's why I have to trust Christ. Without Him, there is no hope. there is no redemption. In him, there is hope. In him, there is peace.

Peace.
mike

Courage

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. "He that will lose his life, the same shall save it," is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes... A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide and will not escape. He must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it; he must desire life like water, and yet drink death like wine.

-G.K. Chesterton, orthodoxy

Envrionmentally friendly gas companies?

I was reading this article in the BBC about Nigeria flaring off natural gas from their oil wells, a wasteful and destructive practice. The oil companies (Shell oil) point their finger at the government while the government points their finger at shell. The whole thing makes me wonder, should I buy gas supplied by shell oil if they do this practice? I'm sure other companies are destructive as well. Are there any gas providers that strive for environmental excellence and fair humanitarian practices? How bought pushing for renewable energy and sustainable practices?
I just feel really uninformed, and the only decision that affects my gas buying is "what's at this exit." but maybe if i knew a little more, i could plan to buy my gas from "better" companies and maybe make a bit of difference in the world.
Peace.
mike