3-15-20 The Helpers

Quote: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my other would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'” – Mister Rogers

I grew up watching the show “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”.  What I remember most was his voice.  It was always so calm and slow and soothing and peaceful.  I’m sure I was the kid who could barely sit in her chair in kindergarten and so listening to his unique delivery of wisdom was probably very comforting to someone like me.  If you google quotes from him, there are many insightful ones.  But this one by far is my favorite.

Look for the helpers.

If you think back to all the news stories you’ve watched in your life, I think Mr. Roger’s mom got it right.  Look for the good in the midst of the bad.  Do you remember the news story of Baby Jessica that fell in the well in her backyard in the late 80s?  What I remember from that story was not her rescue.  No, I remember the video footage on the news of tons of volunteers gathered in her backyard while she was stuck, bringing different equipment from all over the state there to help free her.  My college students are reading a book right now called, “Last Bus Out”.  It’s the story of a poor, young teen with no driver’s license, who loads up buses full of stranded people after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and drives them to safety at the Superdome.  As bad as 9/11 was, there were hundreds of stories shared later of heroes that climbed stairs in the towers to rescue people, not knowing if it was even safe to do so.

Have you heard of the phrase, “Seeing beauty in the ashes”?  This comes from the verses in Isaiah 61:2-3 where it says “…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes…”   After each world crisis passes, I can guarantee you we will hear story after story of beautiful things that came out of terrible situations.

I believe it is super important to shield our children from the news and media, to decrease the amount of anxiety in their little hearts and minds.  Instead we can share with them the stories of where the “helpers” showed up.  Like during the Covid pandemic, we can look back and remind them of the great things that happened.  The local businesses that gave away free food to those that were hungry.  The people who started stocking those little book lending boxes with canned goods.  And the many children who colored pictures and sent them to nursing homes that couldn’t have visitors.

Look for the stories of the helpers.

Let’s purposely look for these kinds of news stories and share, share, share them!