Look for the Helpers

Yesterday something terrible happened! People were hurt and some even died. To add to this, the people that were in harm's way were there because they were celebrating an event. They were there to encourage, to help, to cheer on others. In an instant, all that joy turned to sorrow and confusion and devastation, as not one, but two explosions went off at the Finish line of the Boston Marathon, an iconic race, that has been in existence since 1897. As I saw the headline come up in my newsfeed on Facebook, I immediately thought, BOMB. Unfortunately this is the first conclusion we all jump to, someone meant to do this. Someone sat down and calculated fear and causing injury to another human being. I stopped myself, praying that maybe it had been a gas explosion, no less tragic for those lost or injured, but easier to accept the fact that no one was behind something so horrible. But...as news reports started to roll in, my first fear was confirmed. They were bombs. The first question we always have is WHY? We feel confused, hurt. Then it transforms to outrage and anger at the world and the evil in it. I felt all of those things yesterday, and then I read this post by a friend. It was a picture of the beloved children's program host, Fred Rogers, with a quote from him. Here is the quote: "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.' To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that are still so many helpers -  so many caring people in this world."  Evil exists. It always will, but so does good! And that's what we have to hold onto. It is the only thing we can hold onto. Another very wise man said this, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. What happened yesterday was awful! It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, but we cannot dwell on that. Instead we have to focus on healing and helping people cope to somehow move on. Don't give up! Look for the helpers!