This month as a part of my “Year of Charity,” I’m exploring “Charity thinketh no evil.” Here are a couple of things I want to consider this month.

To me, not thinking evil means wanting the best outcome for all people. In other words, do we ever secretly rejoice when something bad happens to someone we don’t like or someone who has hurt us? Of course, people will suffer the consequences of poor decisions or bad behavior, but “thinking evil” might involve being happy when someone suffers, when we feel they “deserve” it. Do we ever wish something bad on someone else or think ill of someone else? This doesn’t sound like charity to me.

Secondly, I think that love and righteousness are inextricably tied together. I don’t think you can have true righteousness without love or true love without righteousness. This concept has many different aspects, but I think that love without righteousness is selfishness, manipulation, or hedonism. I think righteousness without love is rigidity, extortion, judgment, or retribution. St. Edith Stein said, “Do not accept anything as the truth if it lacks love. And do not accept anything as love which lacks truth! One without the other becomes a destructive lie.”

What does “Charity thinketh no evil” mean to you?