Looking up in the distance I could see a large crowd beginning to form under a light pole. Now faced with a dilemma – do I continue my morning jaunt on the trajectory toward the curious or divert in another direction? And then a long ladder fire truck pulled up and now my inquisitive self was completely drawn into the crowd looking skyward.
In short order the fire personnel were out of the truck sending the ladder toward the light pole.The focus of the rescue? A bird was snagged in some wires on the pole and was frantically trying to release itself. Moments later, to the cheers of the onlookers, the critter was untangled and set free back to soar once again…there is still good in the world.
There are so many challenges happening in the world these days. And in case you miss any of it, television and social media has it on a 24 hour loop making it seem that the world is on the brink of imploding. Again, while there is no shortage of suffering in the world, there is also significant good that happens every day.
The issue is that being bombarded with so many catastrophes makes it hard to see the light of goodness that is also present. Not so long ago I shared this challenge with my spiritual director. Their response was to invite me to cultivate a discipline of looking deeply at every suffering situation for those who are attempting to do good. The fire fighters with the bird, those who are digging others out of bombed out ruins, those who are providing safe shelter during a mass shooting, those who are bringing clean water to contaminated water systems, the kids that bring their stuffed animals to the family whose house burned down.
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” John Wesley
Once you begin to purposefully pay attention to both the suffering – and – how folks respond you begin to see that, amidst even the most horrific of situations, good can be found, rays of light can be seen, and seeds of hope sprout.
“Go out in to the world in peace. Have courage. Hold on to what is good. Return no evil for evil. Strengthen the faint-hearted. Support the weak. Help the suffering. Honor everyone. Love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.”
BP