inherently good.

Today I was on my way to run some errands when my dad called letting me know about the tragedy that was happening in Boston. After hearing all the gruesome details, I felt sick. I felt angry. I felt scared. Movie theaters, schools, marathons, is anywhere safe anymore? It doesn't appear that way, does it?

Working in the news like I do can be tough. I read so many stories every day about such awful things, that I've had to learn to desensitize myself towards it or else I would be so angry all the time. I don't want to pretend like it isn't real, because I think understanding and being aware of reality is a good and healthy thing. But how can we live in a world where such cruel, painful things happen on a regular basis, and still be okay?

I was thinking a lot about this as I sat at work, trying to find images of the bombing to use in the paper that weren't too graphic. I was skimming through Twitter, trying to keep up on the most recent details of the situation, when I came across this tweet:

And then I remembered. Human beings are inherently good. People are good. There are many who let anger or bitterness or a desire for revenge cloud that goodness, causing events like the one that happened today to occur, but we must remember that these are the minority. After a tragedy like this occurs, it's always good therapy for me to search for stories of the good, the heroism, that comes out of it. Because it always does. One of my favorite quotes is this one by Martin Luther King, Jr.:

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant."

However fairytale-ish this sounds, good always wins. 

Life hands us tough things. Events like today may make us want to stay inside and never experience what good the world has to offer, at the risk of being involved in something like today. But we can't. All we can do is be an influence for charity, for selflessness, for kindness. We have to remember that, while awful things happen, we can't let them desensitize or isolate us. We have to know that bad will happen, but that good is still everywhere. While feeling anger is natural, it's so important to make sure we're not bitter. We have to be that force for good.

"The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known. There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard. The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team's jersey we want to wear." Jeffrey R. Holland

This quote always gives me chills, especially if you hear it directly from his mouth. I'm a sore loser, so let's make sure to pick the right team. :) Let's be the people who, while everyone else is running away, run towards those who need our help. My hope is that, when awful things like this happen, the stories of those who helped, who responded, cancel out the stories of the event itself.

And everyone please say a special prayer tonight not only for those affected in Boston, but for those involved in tragedies all over the world that we don't hear about.