Saint Therese Couderc, the co-founder of the Sisters of the Cenacle, had a vision of goodness one day during her prayer. She wrote about it in a letter dated August 10, 1866 :
I saw written as in letters of gold this word Goodness, which I repeated for a long while with an indescribable sweetness. I saw it, I say, written on all creatures, animate and inanimate, rational or not — all bore this name of goodness. I saw it even on the chair which I was using for a kneeler.
This was not just a broad global recognition of goodness, but an awareness of goodness in the details, in the ordinary things of life. The goodness in everyone and everything, she said, comes from God, who has communicated to them something of the divine goodness.
One implication of this awareness of goodness is reverence toward the commonplace. Take off your shoes, God told Moses, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. Our homes, our work places, the day to day objects involved in cooking, working, keeping house, the daily activities such as making up the bed, washing the dishes, praying, being with family and friends — all are holy ground, for God’s goodness is everywhere.
But what about situations? Is the word “Goodness” written on all situations as well as on all creatures? Some situations are obviously evil, while others are subtly destructive, and none of these must we call good. Nevertheless, since God is always present and active, every situation holds within itself the potential for good, just as the crucifixion of Jesus — a blatantly evil action — was turned to good, not only for Jesus but for the whole world.
In whatever situation we find ourselves, we can ask God, “What is the call to me in this?”
I can ask, for example:
or:
Notice that this does not mean that God has brought about a damaging state of affairs or wants me to stay in it when escape is feasible. (If my situation is destructive the call may well be to get out of it as fast as possible.)
Notice also that I am not asking, What is God’s call to my mother-in-law or to my neighbor or to Saddam Hussein? Rather, What is God’s call to me? What are the gracious desires of God for me in the reality in which I now find myself?
We know that in all things God works for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)