Tell me something good

Before William started school, I did per-diem work for a Canadian community-based health care organization called Comcare. Most of my work involved giving flu shots for employee health programs in Ottawa. I always tried to get the clinics at CBC Television and Radio, because they were (a) long enough to justify driving 2 hours each way, not including the wait at the border, (b) at the Chateau Laurier, and (c) a chance for me to be a fawning sycophant in the 15 minutes that innoculees were required to wait in my presence to ensure that no anaphylactic reaction took place.
One very memorable conversation was with a seasoned CBC reporter and producer. I asked him how he maintained his mental and emotional strength when preparing stories about the worst events in human history, and the worst aspects of human nature. He said, he always looked for something positive, like a friendship between two fathers - one Catholic, one Protestant - who both experienced the loss of a child in the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland.

In the aftermath of the tsunami, there are many such stories. The worst that Mother Nature can offer can bring out the very best aspects of human nature. A private donor has pledged $500,000 to Care Canada's tsunami relief campaign.

In Oakville, Ontario, the twentieth annual Polar Bear Dip at Coronation Park raised $50,000 for tsunami relief through World Vision.

From all corners of the world, individuals have responded to the needs of other human beings, ignoring the differences of language, religion, skin color, and geography. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that "World leaders have fallen into step with the remarkable outpouring of generosity from ordinary people as a huge increase in US Government relief pushed the global government fund for tsunami aid to $2.6billion.

And that gives me hope for we, the people, of this beautiful nation called Earth.