The line dividing good and evil

The great Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who passed away this past August 3rd wrote in his book The Gulag Archipelago (1973),

"It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts.

This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil."

I first heard these words paraphrased when attending a talk by author and teacher Wayne Dyer in the late 90s. I often contemplate on these words when I come across people who come across as being downright evil.

These people have the ability to arouse one's own propensity for evil, whether that manifests in thoughts of jealousy, envy, judgmental-ism etc., and the acts of gossip or sabotage which come from such negative thoughts.

Sometimes I meet people who come across as being good, but an evil sliver of their personality comes through...like when they (or even I for that matter) says something unkind to a service staff member. Later I regret such behavior, but thinking about such behavior reminds me that the propensity for evil still lurks.

When we look at public figures, whether they are politicians or celebrities from the world of art or sport, we often see how on they can be really nice at one moment and complete idiots on another occasion.

Solzhenitsyn writes that the line shifts. That's why when we look back at a different part of our lives, our past personalities and way we might have behaved makes us think that we are thinking about a whole different person.

So I do believe that a leopard CAN change their spots.

Bad people can become good and good people can turn bad.

We should look at people at how they are now and not pre-judge how they will behave towards us, especially if we have not seen them for a long time.

I sometimes share with friends an example of how I used to be quite arrogant in my 20s. I will share that in another posting. Nowadays, I like to think that I am no longer so arrogant, that my line within has shifted in a positive way.

It would be so easy if we could draw a line and say that the evil people are on one side and the good people are on the other side.

However as Solzhenitsyn says, this line exists within the human heart of each and everyone of us.