monday meditation on the fruit of the spirit – goodness

“Only when goodness awakens within, will one’s personality and actions gain beauty and strength.”

Amma

Bonjour! It’s Monday, and even though, I’m feeling good. I had a beautiful weekend at home with gorgeous weather and good times and good food with my husband and my puppy. I’m very grateful. I’m also feeling very inspired by my research into today’s monday meditation of the fruit of the spirit – goodness. I hope this little blog post might inspire you to live a life of goodness too.

beauty

“If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

– Roald Dahl

There is a Vietnamese proverb that says “Goodness is better than beauty.” That may be true, but I believe they are connected, goodness is beauty, inner beauty. Inner beauty basically means being a good person. Having qualities like goodness, kindness and joy are beauty treatments that help us become truly lovely, on the inside. A gentle, modest, loving, good character gives a light to the face that can’t be duplicated by the best beauty products in the world. On the subject of goodness and beauty, how about treating yourself to some vegan clean beauty at Goodness? Just a little help for your outside. I’m thinking the face scrub or the Glow-and-go masks…

philosophy

“If you look after goodness and truth, beauty will take care of itself.”

Anonymous

Truth, goodness, and beauty, also known in philosopy as the transcendentals, are the properties of being. The idea is if we want to know anything, these are the things that can be known: what is true, what is right, what is lovely. The philosophers of classical Greece also had a word for beauty that is more than skin deep, kalon. Kalon is the ideal of physical and moral beauty, a combination of the two. I wish I could get into philosophy – it would be so french of me, so Parisian. I will endeavor to learn. I’ve subscribed to the podcast Philosphize This! I just need to start from episode 1.

heavenly

“I think beauty is the child conceived by the union of goodness and truth. Or maybe the bloom on the rose of goodness and truth. And thus, it’s not only good; it’s heavenly.”

Peter Kreeft

What we need to remember, what these monday meditations have been all about, is our faith in God. Psalm 23, one of the most quoted psalms in the bible, says “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life”. As long as we let God be our shepherd he will guide us and protect us, he will give us goodness. And remember to share. “Whenever you share the goodness in your heart, you always end up winning because life is an echo. It gives back what you have given.” – Anonymous

Let’s not forget about the second definition of goodness – the beneficial or nourishing element of food. It’s All Good – how about ending this post with a shout out to my favorite Goop! This week let’s try some good recipes from GP! I’m thinking Roasted Cauliflower + Chickpeas with Mustard +Parsley to change it up from my regular Miznon. Or maybe the Cucumber, Basil + Lime Juice, as a mocktail, to be good? Monday meditation on the fruit of the spirit – goodness – have a good week! À bientôt!