To do good is not chance,
Not a wind that merely blew.
It is a path we take on purpose,
A choice the heart pursues.
To lift a hand, to speak with grace,
To stand when wrong feels strong,
Is not because the world is kind,
But because we choose what’s long.
For every act of mercy sown,
A decision broke the ground.
No goodness grows by accident,
It answers to its sound.
And to do otherwise, my friend,
Is not a slip of feet.
It is a road walked knowingly,
A path chosen off the beat.
No man can say, “I did not know,”
When evil found its way.
For silence, too, is a verdict,
And turning is a sway.
So choose — for every hour will ask,
What master you obeyed.
Goodness waits for your consent,
And so does its dark shade.