Only Human

People are half good, half bad. Some show more of the good, some the bad, but every human has both parts in them. It’s called a conscience, and unfortunately in this world, all we can see, hold, and touch is human-related. There are those few parts of the world where someone gets to be the first person to view its beauty, but for the most part, everything has already been seen, been held, and been touched. The world we live in is dominated by human choice and human decision. Some choices and decisions good, some bad.

People hurt people, and people get hurt by people. What good can come out of a world where humans make the choices, and screw everything up: friendships, relationships, even the planet that is our home. Humans essentially have the capability of being good, but often choose the bad as it is more appealing the easy way out and advertises itself as the self-bettering, more life-improving option.

As we have seen in Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus, good doesn’t advertise itself with the tricks we see and learn about in marketing classes. The good angel says to repent, that it is not too late to make the right choice. It has the better rewards in the end: the rewards and gifts of heaven, the promise for everlasting happiness after death, and God’s eternal love, which is the greatest gift of all. The evil angel, however, pulls out all the stops: emotional appeal, bribery, and whatever else he can think of to keep Faustus’ mind off of the good angel. And Faustus chooses evil.

“He’s only human,” someone might say, as though it is okay to make bad decisions. Being human, you’re allowed to mess up. Humanity, God’s creation, is reduced down to nothing more than an excuse to sin. Humans are part good and part bad.

During the Early Modern Period, angels were seen as God’s way of putting more good into the world. Miracles were explained by angels. If it couldn’t be explained in human terms, it was believed that the miracle was caused by angelic intervention. If the person/people affected by the intervention were living immoral lives, the event was explained as a “call to repentance as a means of averting divine wrath.” (Marshall, 21)

If people are only half good, and evil tries too hard to make itself appealing, it is fitting that God sends angels to work more good into the world. Even if we can’t see it, we see its results. Heaven’s not on a television commercial, not shown as a beautiful cruise destination of sandy golden beaches and crystal blue waters. Good leaves its mark as angels pass in and out of our lives, fixing some of the bad caused by evil and human mistakes and touches the hearts of so many.