Corruption and Erosion

In all of the drama surrounding the new Lord of the Rings show for Amazon an interesting trend began to happen. A number of fans have been referencing and interesting quote by J. R. R. Tolkien (or it might be a paraphrase of a quote by Tolkien) and it says "Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” This quote has really gotten me thinking.

What is truly Good aligns with what life and truth. Good is a recognition of what exists. Evil is not aligned with life and truth. It is aligned with what does NOT exist. Good and Evil are not opposites in the sense of opposing forces, but in essence. Good IS something. Evil is the absence of something. It is the same as light and darkness or heat and cold. Light and heat ARE. Darkness and cold are NOT. This is why goodness can create and build. It is. In all forms of human endeavor, whether that is entertainment, business, government, or community, good has the ability to create and develop and the more universal the truth, the more what is created with that truth will prosper.

If; however, one doesn’t focus on representing that good and loses focus on it, that goodness will begin to seep out. The lack, the absence of good, is evil and in the vacuum the results that were built out of the good will begin to be warped and twisted. Grifters, shysters, and people of ill intent will begin to take over and if left unchecked they will drive the good out further. This is corruption.

As the corruption takes hold and begins to grow, the former power and meaning of the work and institution itself will begin to erode. As the good goes, so does the reach and influence of the created work, until it’s power is spent and lead into ruin. The only way to reverse this is to bring the good back. We must make the decision to do just that.