Helpers

   In the midst of the stunning and heartbreaking events which took place yesterday, I came across this quote by the late, great Mr. Fred Rogers,"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.'"  I have always thought Mr. Rogers was a wise man, sneakers, sweater and all.  It was nice to have a word of comfort from everyone's favorite neighbor on such a dark day.  As I scrolled through my Facebook account, I came across so many beautiful, inspiring and hope filled quotes and status updates.  It is remarkable how the bleakest tragedies awaken the humanity deep within each of us and cause us, at least for a few days, to be a little kinder, a little slower to anger, a little less inclined to argue over petty differences.  In the midst of unthinkable hate, we see heroes rise up from the rubble as examples of selfless sacrifice and human charity. We see helpers all around us.  We desire to join in and be helpers in any way we can.  We lend our prayers, thoughts, hearts and hands to lift up those who are suffering. The trick is to carry this spirit forward after weeks and months have passed.  In moments such as these, when the best and worst of humanity stand in such stark contrast before us, it is easy to be united in lending our strength toward uplifting those around us.  We want to be on the right side of the battle lines of this human experience.  In a few days, however, when the initial shock of these horrific events has worn off, bickering over politics, religion and petty differences of a million other kinds will once again arise.  Instead of lifting one another up, we will begin again to put one another down.  There will be less helping and more belittling and hurting.

     In the midst of such tragic and horrific events, I ask myself two questions; "What can I do to help?"  and "What can I learn from this?"  Being so far away from Boston, I am still trying to figure out some way that I can help in any physical capacity to relieve the suffering of the grieving and injured there.  But I have had a prayer in my heart since I heard about the tragedy that God will reveal a way that I may help.  As far as what I have learned, I refer back to the quote by Mr. Rogers.  When scary and unimaginable things happen, I will tell my children to "look for the helpers."  But, more than that, I would tell them to be one of the helpers, and not just in the midst of hate, destruction and despair, but every day.  I hope that the compassion which has been awakened within me will not be diminished by the passing of time, but that I will make a conscious effort each day to be a helper in small ways to those around me.

     There will always be evil and depraved people who commit unthinkable acts of violence.  But there will always be helpers as well.  The question we must daily ask ourselves is, "Which side are we on?"  As adults, we like to complicate everything.  We like to justify and explain away our reasons for putting others down.  In terms of how we treat our fellow man, I think we could stand to simplify our thought process.  It's really not so complex.  There is love and there is hate.  There is tolerance and there is intolerance.  There is kindness and there is meanness.  There is building up and there is tearing down.  We daily choose to help or to hinder the cause of unifying the human race.  I choose this day to redouble my efforts to be a helper, to my children, my friends, my neighbors; to let go of petty grievances, to be more grateful for small kindnesses.  I hope to live my life in such a way that when I tell my children to "look for the helpers", they won't have to look far.