“He who would...have good days... Let him turn away from evil and do good (1 Peter 3:10,11).
Whenever I hear that boilerplate benediction, "Have a good day," I ask myself: “How can anyone ‘have’ a good day? Our days are too unpredictable.”
Peter assures us, however, that we can have a measure of control over life’s vagaries, something wise men and women have always known. Good days are the fruit of personal righteousness. If I want to have a good day, I must “turn away from evil and do good.”
Jesus put his imprimatur on that principle in the Beatitudes, by linking goodness and "blessedness," a word that goes way beyond happiness to a sense of profound well-being (Matthew 5:3-12).
So then, how can we “have a good day”? By doing the right thing to the person right in front of us. Right now.
No one has to tell us what that is. We know.
David Roper
11.27.20
