Good for goodness sake

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I know I'm a day late, and many dollars short, but it just dawned on me that one of my favorite Christmas Carols has a bit of irony mixed into it that in all my 40 years on the planet I've completely missed...

You know the song...

"...So be good for goodness sake..ohhhh...you better watch out...you better not cry...you better not pout...I'm tellin' you why...Santa Claus is coming to town..."

'Good for goodness sake'...a pretty bold statement to put into a song aimed at kids if you ask me, and ironic because you're pairing goodness for goodness sake with being good because Santa's watching your every move.

Caveat- the phrase 'goodness sake' could actually be just an exclamation meaning "Goodness sake! Be good, or Santa's got it in for you!" If so, please stop reading and move on to better pastures in cyber space.

Assuming that the phrase in the song actually means 'the sake of being good', would a child really buy into just being good for goodness sake? Or would same said child be good because Santa's essentially Robert De Niro's character in 'Meet the Parents' (i.e., I'm watching you Focker!)?

My money's on De Niro.

Spoiler alert...

I don't have any answers per se about why we're good. A website that I follow has though, and here is a link from the site discussing why humans are good:

http://therecoveringchristian.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/entry-8-goodliness-is-not-next-to-god/

Also, a podcast that I love has recently tackled this topic. The folks at WNYC's Radio Lab in New York City, have just uploaded their latest program entitled, "The Good Show" (Click HERE to listen).

I think you will be challenged in whatever assumptions you have about what it means to be "good". Really interested to hear your comments on any or all of the three people profiled. Absolutely remarkable stories!

Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful, and safe New Year's Celeberation!

Thanks for stopping by,
Drew