Table of Contents
Introduction vii
A Role Model for Ordinary Goodness xi
Author's Note: About Meister Eckhart xvii
Part 1 Ordinary Goodness
The Paradox of Being 3
Goodness as Awe 8
I Didn't Know What to Do 14
What Would Goodness Do? 19
Goodness as Altruism 32
When Goodness Is Not Enough 40
Goodness as Love and Devotion 47
Part 2 Ordinary Kindness
Kindness as Guidance 53
Kindness Isn't Weakness 61
Goodness as Kindness 65
Kindness as Attitude 75
Kindness as a Habit 78
Kindness as Listening Generously 85
Part 3 Ordinary Compassion
The Compassion, of Wanting to Understand 91
The Compassion of Being There 102
The Compassion of Caring About Others' Suffering 115
The Compassion of Self-Kindness 120
The Compassion of Seeing People as They Are 124
Part 4 Ordinary Faith
Faith as an Expectation of Good 133
Faith as Something Borrowed 143
Finding Faith When There's Nothing Left Inside 148
Faith as Something Earned 156
Faith as Something Given 166
Faith as Something Shared 169
Faith as Intuition 173
Part 5 Finding Faith
Co-Existence 181
Mystery 184
Polarities 193
Divinity 199
What Do You Believe? 202
Postlude; Be Calm and Carry On 207
Appendix 209
Acknowledgments 215