If goodwill is the flip side of malice, then it can also be said that the flip side of malice is goodwill. Furthermore, if the reverse of goodwill is indifference, the same can be said of malice. This is because malice, like goodwill, exists within the realm of “interest.” In other words, indifference resides on a different layer from both goodwill and malice.
When a glimpse of malice is seen, people tend to settle into a conclusion of malice. The same applies to goodwill. This is likely a matter of human perception. In human cognition, boundaries are inevitably required. We need clear demarcations or definitions. Therefore, our judgment easily falls toward one of the extremes. It would be ideal if there were a “golden mean”—for example, malice tinged with goodwill, or goodwill leaning toward malice. This involves measuring distance through malice; extreme goodwill or malice can easily lead to misunderstanding and may even destroy the original intent. Embracing that middle ground allows one to be open to ambiguity.
Definitive definitions leave no room for change. When a person defines another, that other person is robbed of their capacity to change. To define another is an act of stripping away the dignity of their life. Meanwhile, the process of living is inherently ambiguous. There is the starting point of birth and the endpoint of death. As long as death is a static end and life is a dynamic process of living, the two are not polar opposites. This is precisely why, when one defines another in a fixed manner, it is equivalent to death.
Did God define humans in such a way? What does “God” mean here? It could be said that God likely defined humanity. Humans are dynamic beings who receive life and head toward death. Whatever God may be, it must be something that stands in relation to humans—whether above, below, everywhere, or nowhere. Otherwise, one could not offer prayers or hold faith. If humans are dynamic beings, is God a static being? Or a dynamic one? Or perhaps both simultaneously, or neither? In any case, such an existence is beyond the reach of human perception. We cannot capture it. We cannot grasp it, but we can encounter its trajectory. This is why humans can have faith in God. In this moment, humans also exist within the ambiguous process of life. This suggests that the existence of God is not about whether He exists or not, but rather that He must be ambiguous.
