When I was a kid, late at night I was sure either E.T. or
the Bogey Man were coming to get me. Not every night but enough restless
nights for me to remember.
Sometimes I would even sleep upside down to try to trick
them into thinking my head was where my feet were and vice versa. My trickery
sure paid off because neither of them ever got me.
In reality, I was safe in my home yet I had this very real
fear that the shadow in the corner of my room was waiting for me to make a wrong
move so they could get me.
A lot’s changed since then. The shadows in my room are
easily identified as my running shoes, purse, or Sterling’s books. But those very real fears are still
there. Just about different things now.
This past week led to a number of these fears resurfacing. I
started wondering how safe my safe city really was. Ah the trappings of terror.
Earthquakes, hateful acts, fire and brimstone. Make you wonder if everything’s
going to be alright in paradise.
If only we could live in the cloudy Kingdom of Caring with
Brave Heart Lion and my other favourite Care Bears. Things would be simpler
there. Until No Heart made an
appearance. That No Heart was never up to any good.
But True Heart and Cheer Heart and Love-a-Lot Bear—they were
there to thwart the evil efforts of No Heart and Beastly. They were there to right the wrongs.
Thankfully, I learned that lesson early on. As long as
there’s good in the world—whether it’s the United Kingdom or the Kingdom of
Caring—the bad can’t prevail. It won’t prevail.
I don’t know if there’s more bad today than there was in my
five-year-old self’s world. Social media and the internet certainly make it
seem like it. But they also shed light on some incredible acts of humanity in
the face of heinous events.
Those acts of kindness and humanity help alleviate those
fears. The outpouring of love, charity, community and kindness…the way people
come together. Images like that make the Bogey Man disappear.
He might be ready to stop us in our tracks but we won't let him. Not this
time.
