Good and Evil

The story that has stormed the Internet this week about the woman who created a false MySpace account which she ultimately used to drive a neighbor’s teenage daughter to suicide demonstrates with alarming clarity that there is evil out there, and that it is probably closer than you think. No doubt, some would argue that the description I just used is far too black-and-white to discuss this particular case. I don’t think so. Had the woman in question shown any sign of remorse for what she did, I might have felt differently. But no, instead she became very friendly and “supportive” to the grieving family, doing her best to “help” them in their time of need. And with that, she forfeited any right she had to forgiveness. Her life deserves to be ruined for what she did.

You can read the story here. Michele speaks forcefully and eloquently about the case here and here. Beware – this is a story that stays with you, the kind that digs through your psyche and makes you wonder whether the world is even worth saving, climate crisis or no.

So it was good that after enduring that story, I came across this one, Sheila O’Malley’s account of a random encounter with a beret-wearing Dickens fan while waiting in line to see No Country For Old Men. It’s a simple story, but also one that sticks with you - in this case, a life-affirming one; something to cleanse your soul after the dark depths of the previous story.

And life goes on.