A couple of weeks ago I heard a guest on NPR say something along these lines: Evil is something that happens in a second, but Good is something that must happen again and again and again.
That really stuck with me and I wanted to write a post about how that's our job as parents. To fill our kids up with as much Good as we can, so that if they are hit with Evil or even just when the plain old Bad hits, they are armed, equipped, and ready. And hopefully, they'll rarely have to use that armor of Good.
But today, something really bad happened. A police officer, here in Arlington, lost his life this morning. I don't know the exact details, but it was really a freak accident involving his motorcycle and a school bus.
And I thought about how he got up this morning and took a shower. He had breakfast, maybe with his spouse and kids, maybe not. And he walked out of his door and that was it.
And the thing is, there are so many people, every single day, who voluntarily do jobs that guarantee that they will be in direct contact with the bad stuff. Police officers, fire fighters, EMTs, the dispatchers who take the phone calls across 12 hour shifts. They do such Good and help to insulate us from the bad.
I guess I just wanted to make sure that I publicly say, "Thank you." Thank you to that police officer and his family. Thank you to all of those service workers. Thank you.
Yes, it's our job as parents to fill our kids up with Good over and over again. It's our job as people to do it for each other.
Posts
randomly popping by
-
Hello. My name is Wendy and I used to blog here. I found something
interesting I thought you might enjoy:
Chefs plan menus to feed 4 on a food-stamp budget...
14 years ago
Very thoughtful post. Last fall we saw some motorcycle police officers monitoring traffic. Later that day, one of those 3 was killed by a driver. He left behind a wife and 2 small children. Very sad about the police officer in Arlington that just lost his life. The loss of his life will surely touch many.
ReplyDeleteWendy, Thank you so much for the very kind words. They really mean more than you know.
ReplyDeleteRM
Sometimes my daughter makes me cry! I am so proud of her being the kind, loving and thoughtful person she is!-----Now if she would just go get that rubber chicken for Jackson, she would be perfect! (Wendy's Mom)
ReplyDeleteWow, Wendy-this made me cry. It was a rough day for all city employees. But, I can't imagine his family, the driver of the bus, or how the kids and their families....are doing.
ReplyDeleteYou are right though, and I will go hug my daughter now.
Love ya-Michele
Fantastic post Wendy! Thank you Lord for all those people that help protect us from the bad in this world each and every day! God Bless them and their families and thank you for people like Wendy that care enough to acknowledge them.
ReplyDelete