Blessed with general peace in our beloved America, we are distressed to see so much strife in many parts of the world.
On a single day, we read that:
* More than two dozen Shiite pilgrims in Pakistan were gunned down, apparently by Sunni Muslims.
* Dozens of people have been killed over just the past few days in the nation of Yemen, where civil war seems inevitable.
* A former president of Afghanistan was assassinated by a suicide bomber.
* A Mexican drug gang leader was arrested, but gruesome drug-related violence continues in Mexico.
* A suicide bomber killed four and wounded 18 more in Iraq.
None of that is to say that we lack our share of strife and crime in America. But we do not generally go about our lives in constant fear of a politically or religiously motivated bombing, or of civil war.
There are many troubles and tragedies that we cannot readily avoid. There are floods and fires, hurricanes and tornadoes, and diseases and accidents of all sorts. But there is a great deal of "man's inhumanity to man," too.
Fortunately, there are also Good Samaritans among us. They regularly seek to do good to friends, family and strangers alike, and they "do unto others" as they would have others do unto them.
What a better world this would be if more of us did good things to overcome the bad things that too many people viciously or thoughtlessly do to others.
We can't always make people behave as they ought. But we can choose what kind of people we want to be. And if we choose well, we can brighten the world around us.