“When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me.” ~ Fred Rogers
When I was in grammar school, there was a girl named Jill. She must have been four or five years older than I was. I’m not sure whether she was a Thalidomide baby or what, but one of her legs was significantly shorter than her other one. She wore a special brace and shoe on her short leg in order to walk.
She was a remarkable girl. My mother told me that she had taught herself to ride a bicycle and ice skate. I have no idea how she did it. But her super skill was high jumping. She would take off her brace and would somehow run to make the jump. She usually came in first on our school’s field day.
Like most little kids, I would stare at her short leg and for whatever reason was a little afraid of her. Well actually, she was one of the “big kids” so I was a little afraid of all of them.
One day when I was swinging on the rings in the playground, I slipped and came down hard on my back. The fall knocked the wind out of me and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe. The kids on the playground sort of circled around me and gasped, not knowing what to do.
As I stared up at them gaping at me, Jill appeared and kneeled down to help me. She cleared the crowd, helped me up and took me to the nurse’s office.
It may not seem like much, but I never forgot Jill and what she did that day. I don’t know, whether I would have jumped in like that to take charge, when I was her age.
She was my hero.
Heroes appear in many ways. Maybe they are the Ukrainian soldiers who are trying to defend their country from an unprovoked invasion. Or maybe they appear as the members of the GOP who have stood up to Trump and told the truth. Or maybe they are the Capitol police who protected our democracy, while being attacked by an incited mob.
Or maybe — just maybe — they appear as a kind child, who shows concern and empathy for another child.
There are so many Americans who are generously caring and doing for others in these troubling times. We need to applaud their kindness and courage. With all the cruelty and horror of the Trump administration, we need to look for the heroes.
I know they’re out there.
“…That is what we must resist, if we are to change the world for man’s peace and security. It is not men in the mass who can and will save man. It is man himself, created in the image of God so that he shall have the power to choose right from wrong, and so be able to save himself because he is worth saving — man, the individual, men and women, who will refuse always to be tricked or frightened or bribed into surrendering, not just the right but the duty too, to choose between justice and injustice, courage and cowardice, sacrifice and greed, pity and self — who will believe always not only in the right of man to be free of injustice and rapacity and deception, but the duty and responsibility of man to see that justice and truth and pity and compassion are done. So, never be afraid. Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion, against injustice and lying and greed…”
~William Faulkner, Never Be Afraid
Thought for the day in honor of his birthday…
“Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.”
~ Marcel Proust
Must Read Article:
Pat Williams’ passing reminds me of just how much things have changed, and damn it is not for the better in any way. Pat Williams was among the very last of a breed of Montana congressional figures who knew more about their state than they knew about Georgetown, and by that I mean the neighborhood in the District of Columbia and not the spot on the map of Deer Lodge County….
As Democrats wander in the political wilderness trying to figure out how to “appeal” to distracted, disinterested voters, they might go to school on the politics of Pat Williams. He listened. He showed up. He cared. He knew what he believed.
“He was always his authentic self.”
Quote of the day:
‘You don’t give them a life; you give them a life worth living.’
~ Sr. Rosemary Connelly
What I’m reading today…
'She saw our kids as people, not as disabilities'
"When you think of the number of lives she touched — thousands," said David Axelrod, the former senior adviser for Barack Obama. "Not just the folks who lived in Misericordia, but their families. It changed my daughter's life and it changed my whole family's life for the better. This whole place exists because of the force of her will."
Faith leaders bear witness as migrants make their case in immigration court
For several weeks, clergy members from a cross section of religions have been showing up at courtrooms in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego to stand with immigrants during their deportation hearings. The practice was launched after faith leaders learned that many immigrants seeking asylum were being whisked away by federal agents after what had been billed as routine court appearances, and locked up in remote detention facilities without a chance to prepare or say goodbye to family.
They have sought to use their presence to comfort migrants and lend a sense of moral authority to the proceedings. They have also taken to the courtroom benches to bear witness with silent prayer.
The umbrellas help block the view of patients coming in and out of the clinic. Women not only have to endure verbal abusive in the Name of Jesus, but risk having their faces and license plates photographed and posted on social media. “Loving Christians” don’t believe in privacy for a private medical appointment. Now, you see why some of us do this week after week, month after month?
Imagine a world where you can succeed by being nice. Where we all pay it forward. Where people look out for each other. It all starts with an act.
Camp Mystic director died while trying to save girls, reports say
The director of Camp Mystic was among the people killed due to the Hill Country floods… longtime owner Richard “Dick” Eastland was killed while trying to save girls at the camp.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers.”
‘The fear is wide’ - LA pastors minister to migrants amid immigration raids
In the past few weeks, Mueller has been visiting parishioners at their homes, talking with them about how the raids are impacting their lives. Many, he said, stay at home all day, fearful that they may be caught in a spontaneous raid and never return to their families…
At its core, this crisis is one of human dignity, said Father Luis Espinoza, the pastor at St. Agnes Catholic Church.
“I hope that everyone can understand the gift that they have of being born in this country, but that it is something that can be shared with others and that those others are not enemies.”
UNC Asheville’s STEAM Studio receives grant to process trees felled by Tropical Storm Helene
"As practitioners who work with wood and understand its value in rebuilding, it was heart-wrenching to see so many trees getting hauled off to be chipped. We figured that if we could get a mill and start producing lumber from salvaged timber, we could donate it to community rebuilding efforts.” … Green, air-dried lumber will also be made available for free at the Asheville Tool Library for outdoor projects like raised garden beds, chicken coops and fencing.
Pastor speaks out after ICE agents arrest Iranian church members
A pastor in Los Angeles, California, says members of his Iranian Christian congregation were detained by federal agents, including a couple seeking asylum. One of the women arrested suffered a medical emergency during the incident… The pastor, who fled Iran years ago due to religious persecution, said witnessing the arrests was traumatic and reminded him of the repression he faced growing up.
James Gunn: Some people will take offence at my new Superman
This is a Superman film for the age of endless discourse, with the difference being that the people — Clark and Lois — who disagree with each other here are willing to discuss and even, perhaps, learn.
“Yes, it’s about politics,” Gunn says. “But on another level it’s about morality. Do you never kill no matter what — which is what Superman believes — or do you have some balance, as Lois believes? It’s really about their relationship and the way different opinions on basic moral beliefs can tear two people apart.
USC Agents of Change establishes hotline to help move immigration hearings online
A group of volunteers based out of a USC Dornsife program established a free hotline to help those with in-person immigration hearings file motions to move their appointments online…Each of the unpaid volunteers are a USC student, faculty or alumni, or the trusted friend of a current volunteer.
'They took shrapnel from my heart' – the magnets saving lives in Ukraine
In just one year, Doctor Maksymenko's team has performed over 70 successful heart operations with the device, which has changed the face of front-line medicine in Ukraine. The development of these extractors came after front-line medics highlighted the urgent need for a safe, fast, minimally invasive way to remove shrapnel. Oleh Bykov - who used to work as a lawyer - drove this development. Since 2014 he has been supporting the army as a volunteer. He met medics on the front line and from his conversations the magnetic extractors were created.
How A Little Blue Box Is Quietly Saving Lives — And Redefining Mental-Health Support
The idea came from Ali Borowsky’s own experience. After surviving multiple suicide attempts—her first in eighth grade, her last at age 26—she found herself deeply disillusioned with how the world responded to mental health. What she needed wasn’t another hotline or pamphlet. She needed something real. Something human.
So she made it herself.
That box became the first of what is now Find Your Anchor, a grassroots movement built around small, tangible acts of support for people in crisis. What began as a personal healing project has since reached over 100,000 people, one blue box at a time—and now spans 40+ countries.
Where Golf Meets Heroism: The Story of American Dunes
American Dunes represents something unprecedented in golf — a course where the mission matters as much as the golf itself, where every round played contributes to a cause greater than the game, and where the emotional impact often overshadows even the most spectacular shots….
The mission extends far beyond the golf course boundaries. Since opening in 2021, American Dunes has contributed more than $3.5 million to Folds of Honor. The organization has awarded more than 62,000 scholarships totaling more than $290 million to spouses and children of America's fallen and disabled service members and first responder families.
While he's has been hailed as a hero, he has a different perspective: "The real heroes, I think, were the kids on the ground," he told GMA. "Those guys are heroic, and they were dealing with some of the worst times of their lives, and they were staying strong. That helped inspire me to get in there and help them out."
Kindness Vs. Cruelty: Helping Kids Hear The Better Angels Of Their Nature
But kindness is about more than sensing someone else's pain. It's also about wanting to do something about it — and then actually being helpful. Lickona says kids show an early preference for helping, too.
A recommended book…
In the Garden of the Righteous by Richard Hurowitz
“In the Garden of the Righteous chronicles extraordinary acts at a time when the moral choices were stark, the threat immense, and the passive apathy of millions predominated. Deeply researched and astonishingly moving, it focuses on ten remarkable stories.”
What I am listening to…
A real hero…. Bridget Brink. She served under both President Biden and President Trump. She became the ambassador in Ukraine and lived for three years in the war zone.
They discuss the true stakes of the war, the failure of the Trump administration to develop or execute a coherent Ukraine policy, and why Brink ultimately chose to resign her post. She offers a firsthand account of life in Kyiv during the early days of the full-scale invasion, the dangers facing American diplomats in war zones, and the institutional breakdowns now threatening U.S. foreign policy from within.
What I am watching…
What I read every day…
