One of life’s great mysteries is that in our lifetime, we humans must make our souls into bridges leading to goodness, reaching out from our own selves to others. To feel firm ground beneath our feet is to tread the bridges of good will. A good deed comes from the heart and must be said out loud in our own voice – no prompting needed here. Perhaps it is time to look deep into our eyes and ask ourselves: who are we, where and how are we leading our lives? What is the energy priming us and what distance lies between us? Which is the key that opens the door to the warmth of the human heart?

At times the line between good and evil may seem too fine. Adults probably couldn’t define what makes one a good man, but to 10-year old Annie the answer is quite clear. One winter day when she was walking in the street she heard a tune she knew well and saw a beggar listening to a street musician in pure ecstasy. Then the man in rags emptied all coins from his plastic cup into the musician’s violin case and left. That, says Annie, is a good man. 

The mystery of life cannot be unraveled without good and evil. The world’s survival revolves around the eternal battle between the two and that is something that will never change. We, Bulgarians have ample proof of this. Every day we learn of children in need or of people who are expecting our text messages that will raise money for life-saving surgery. We have our presidential fundraising campaign The Bulgarian Christmas for the treatment of sick children. And I remember what Hermina, daughter of a colleague once said to me; some years ago she was in need of a life-saving operation. She defeated the insidious disease but has kept a letter from a stranger, an old man, ever since. In his cramped handwriting he had written that he wished her good health and was sending her all the money he had. Inside the envelope there was a 2-lev bill. This envelope and the kindness of thousands of others, who responded when Hermina was ill, prompted her to commit herself to helping people in need.

Looking back at these true stories I invariably ask myself: will people grow to be better and more responsible to the gift of life? Will the human race find a Moses to lead us to the promised land of the spirit, where people shall find their salvation? Perhaps this is the time to seek out the act or the person symbolizing what human goodness is all about. To my mind, goodness means making a difference in our society; though it is more than a material gesture of support, more than clothing or shoeing another human being. It is also a smile, an encouraging glance. Goodness is something that must step out of its infancy; goodness is wanting others to have a good life, recognizing their right to lead their lives as they want to. In truth, to seek out goodness and kindness in life, we must first look to ourselves.

And while we are waiting for the National Assembly to argue out which parliamentary faction is more concerned for our welfare, our safety and peace of mind, while we are waiting for the judiciary to take criminals off the streets we ask ourselves: until that time comes who shall protect us against our own selves and how? Who shall save our souls, who shall show our children what a good man means? We tried – with hatred and hypocrisy, we tried – with iron bars and mistrust. And that has made us no happier, no richer. There is one thing left now – to try with kindness, gradually, bit by bit. We can start with the easiest of things – a kind word. An irritating neighbour – give her a smile. Or an annoying coworker – congratulate him on his success, a relative we have not spoken to for years – invite him over for a cup of coffee. It is not that hard – all you have to do is try!

English Milena Daynova