There has been so much to hear and read about the recent attacks in Paris. This world has tragedies and it would be easy to let all the bad news and sadness overtake our outlook on just about anything. My favorite quote on these matters comes from good ‘ol Mr.Rogers. He 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.”

That’s what I tend to do these days. Find the helpers. Seek the good in the bad.

Simon was a helper. It was in his nature to do what was right for the greater good. In his job with Amtrak, we often discussed that if there was an emergency on the train, Simon would be the last one off the train, if he made it off at all. We both knew that about him. He would have unquestionably given his life if it would save someone else’s. Just this week, there was a news story in Lebanon of a father shopping with his children in a busy marketplace who saw a suicide bomber about to detonate in the crowd. The father tackled the bomber and lost his life, but saved countless others in that act. What a legacy in the midst of tragedy.

I’ll shamefully admit that, in an emergency, I would think of myself and our children first, and perhaps help a few others around me if it was easy or convenient. I would imagine a majority of us are that way. But thank God for people who can think clearly in a crisis. Thank God for the helpers.