For extraordinary human goodness

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(11/2018) Are we, as humans persons, naturally good? This question comes to my mind as we approach the annual autumnal event designed specifically to give thanks because, if so, we have so much to be thankful for.

The answer to this question became overwhelmingly clear to me in June of 2013. The month preceding, my friend and I had been galivanting in the fields, as 13-year-olds do. Disregarding the advice of my parents and the National Institutes of Health to cover up my ankles, it was on that day that a deer tick sought and attained refuge in my body. It was only two weeks later when my family and I had travelled and arrived in Rome, Italy that I was made aware of this infectious invader. Within an hour of landing in Italy, which had been my first encounter outside of America, I had severe flu-like symptoms and was relegated to the hotel bed.

The room that the small hotel assigned to us was adjacent to the lobby of the family-run establishment. This geographical placement was just the first evidence of Providence that proved to be beneficial to my recovery.

The owners of the hotel were as kind and hospitable to me: a sick, American middle schooler, as they would have been had they been hosting the President of Italy. They very well could have taken the position of insouciant hotel owners, claiming their lack of understanding because of the language barrier. Instead, this family, who has spent their entire lives offering ‘welcome!’ to everyone who walks inside, courageously embraced their vocation and exceeded our expectations as hotel owners.

For the first two days of the trip, no one knew the source of my slowly intensifying illness. My fever rose to 105 degrees, with constant fatigue and occasional bouts of vertigo. The family made their desire to help known from the outset. First, they scheduled a visit from a doctor to come to the room. While the doctor did wrongly prescribe medication to treat a viral infection, the effort of the hotel owners to find the cause of my illness was apparent.

When my parents needed to recover from the unfulfilled expectation after the misdiagnosis and to fulfill their Sunday Mass obligation, the patriarch of the hotel family walked my parents to the nearest church. Unable to speak or understand English, it was this older man’s quiet nature that spoke volumes to my parents about the nature of selfless love, especially in a time of need. My mom also experienced a supernatural trust to leave me in the hotel room by myself, door ajar, under the complete protection and care of Giuseppe, the son of the family. To this day, she is baffled by the ease with which she left me in the hotel room of a foreign country in a state of such vulnerability.

The unbridled desire to find the source and treatment of my illness was apparent in the eyes of that caring family. Finally, they sent their cousins, a married couple that both were medical doctors, into my room. They noticed a bullseye rash, a common symptom of Lyme disease, on my side, and immediately diagnosed medication for treatment. I was back to my normal self by the end of the day.

On the next day, we left the hotel as quietly as we came in. The adventure of walking through the ancient city was quickly transformed into an adventure of confusion, trust and ultimate gratitude. At the time, it was very difficult to understand the reasoning behind the great lengths to which the hotel staff was trying to ensure that we would be welcomed into their country at a time of sickness in which any family would certainly rather be at home.

This lack of understanding points to the long-term effects of the virtue of gratitude. While we are experiencing generosity, kindness and love from another person, the extent to which the other person is giving of themselves is rarely seen in the present moment. Perhaps the delayed nature of gratitude is one reason our country has dedicated an entire day to giving thanks to God for our lives, our friends and family and our prosperity.

By extension, this question reverts to the inquiry of whether humans are naturally good or naturally evil. Before I arrived in Italy in the summer of 2013, I might have questioned whether we are limited by the quantity and consistency of our actions and whether those actions define who we are as persons. I posit that we, every born and unborn human person, are naturally good. That is, it is unnatural to do evil. This sentiment should lead to immediate feelings of gratitude.

Consider the alternative. If we were more prone to be malicious, then war would be the norm and peace would be an outlier. Discord would be accepted, and agreement would be questioned. Naturally, one reality for which that I constantly overlook to give thanks is simply being and living in this country. In the history of the world, the chance to live in the United States in 2018 is so microscopic, that it causes me to be overcome with awe at the will of God that I should be so blessed to live in this place and at this time.

This sort of realization is what is so unique about this American holiday. Our country needs to have Thanksgiving. There is something very therapeutic and revitalizing about the common effort to recognize our blessings and prosperity and I believe it stands to be one of the greatest traditions that this country holds. It is a commitment to gratitude.

Whether your family’s Thanksgiving dinner relates more to Norman Rockwell’s famous Freedom from Want painting or to Tim Allen’s unexciting meal at Denny’s in The Santa Claus, it can be sure that the necessity for this holiday is stronger today than ever before and that the recognition of our inherently good nature is a constant reality to be continually thankful for.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer