What sort of world do we live in?
A bombing in Boston… a school shooting in Connecticut… a movie theater shooting in Colorado. I can remember watching coverage of the movie theater shooting in the Nairobi Airport in Kenya. There is something so surreal about watching something tragic happen in your country while watching from another. But it’s just as bad, if not worse, watching the coverage from your own country.
As human beings, we (naturally) have so many questions. How could someone do such a thing? What makes evil people do evil things? Are we all capable of doing unspeakable, evil things? Sometimes, in these questions, we forget to look for the good. I will be the first one to say that when something extremely tragic happens, like a bombing or shooting, I automatically start questioning and looking at the bad. And questions are okay. They’re natural. But as a follower of Christ, I am called to do so much more. I am called to see the potential in the situation. To look for whatever good there may be, and to love those who are hurting.
Fred Rogers once said, “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.’” But what if, instead of looking for the helpers, we were the helpers? What if, instead of waiting for others to step in, we decided to make a difference? Lately, I have been SO challenged with these questions. I tend to wait for someone else to step in and make the change that I want to see… but I need to step up. We all need to step up, especially those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ. We were created to love God and to love others. Simple as that.
The world that we live in is so messed up, and it needs people who will rise to the occasion. People who will not just look for the helpers… but people who will be the helpers. So my challenge for myself, and for anyone else who may be reading this – be a helper. Be the type of person who gets off the sidelines and makes a difference. Because someday – someone could return the favor for you.