Editor’s note: Joan Bay Klope is on vacation this week, but in her absence she sent along a column that deserves a read one more time.

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.

— Henry David Thoreau

I grew up in a community with a stable population. It was not uncommon for a family to move into a neighborhood and remain at least two decades to raise their children. Therefore, many of my classmates who pounded handmade musical instruments in Mrs. Barker’s kindergarten music program also walked across the stage at my high school graduation. Such history gave us kids the unique opportunity to study each other over the years. Such history offers us life lessons today.

John lived on the upper end of my neighborhood and was adopted as an infant by a couple about as decent and good as parents can be. He was a small, quirky little kid. His left ear was malformed and there was a nasal tone to his voice, but John was smart and well provided for. In due time we all took note of his blossoming talent on the piano and when he struggled to socialize with the rest of us, he took to playing the piano for us, instead. It was his strategy and certainly a workable one at that.

John’s parents, like mine, hauled their two children to the local church, built just blocks from our neighborhood. He attended Sunday school and vacation Bible school with me and every time his dad arrived to pick John up he’d call out to the teacher, “Was Johnny a good boy for you today?” In truth, Johnny was high maintenance and a bit of an irritation at moments. He so badly wanted to fit in, but struggled to easily socialize. But good? John was that. He was a good kid with parents we considered to be a bit plain and rather “square,” but exceedingly and undisputedly good. After all, they had chosen John as their baby to love and nurture throughout his childhood.

Author George Eliot, who was really English novelist Mary Ann Evans Cross (but understood that she would need to cover herself in a cloak of maleness to be taken seriously), commented on goodness 150 years ago in her play, Scenes of a Clerical Life. At one point in the play the main character proclaims, “The first condition of human goodness is something to love; the second is something to reverence.” When I think of such a combination I think of John’s parents. They loved their Johnny and they revered God. Their goodness was their “fruit” — their choice to love their adopted son as their own. No doubt their patience was tested time and again. And no doubt their choice to keep their eyes focused on God produced that goodness that became so evident to us kids.

I remember that being good or displaying goodness was not something I talked about with my friends early on in my childhood. Being popular was highly prized. So was being funny. But there was little doubt that the parents in our neighborhood embraced the expectation that we be good kids. They parented other kids and touched base with parents if there were problems. There was also common knowledge of what goodness looked like. That was because my formative years took place as war and youthful protest swirled around me. The long hair, pot-smoking members of the new generation did not look or smell good to the parents in my neighborhood. If we kept our skirts at an appropriate length and dealt politely with the adults in our lives, we were deemed good kids.

Being good is even more difficult today. I am learning this lesson as I watch my own children and their peers wade through their formative years. Adults and children alike frequently resent goodness in others. They publicly belittle it and privately resent it. And if you struggle at all with the notion that human beings are fallen by nature, factor in goodness and watch how difficult it is to surround yourself with goodness and remain untargeted.

This week, give the concept of goodness some life by acting as a loyal friend. Show respect when there is a difference in opinion. Be a good sport. Tell the truth, not matter the consequences. Then gear up for some discouragement, for goodness is never completely achieved. And while it is easy to fall off course, you can hop back onto the path of goodness by walking hand-in-hand with God. Talking to him daily. Seeking his wisdom. Spending time with people who know God on a personal level. And longing for his presence and influence to guide and protect your growing understanding of goodness.

To do so will introduce reverence and goodness into your life.