Through a dark 2020, human kindness shone

When the history of 2020 is written, it will be dominated by three grim words: COVID-19, coronavirus and pandemic. But there’s a fourth word that should figure prominently in that account, one that is inspirational, uplifting and equally true for these terrible times.

It’s kindness.

By now it’s clear that COVID-19 wasn’t the only thing that was highly contagious in the world over the past 12 months. As the coronavirus spread, so did millions upon millions of displays of human altruism, selflessness and solidarity. Even as the numbers of sick and dead soared late last winter, signs began popping up in windows or on front lawns proclaiming messages such as “Stay strong,” “We are all in this together,” or “Our heroes wear scrubs.”

In what became a nightly ritual, people banged pots and pans to show support for front line hospital and long-term-care workers. And as masks, social distancing and lockdowns became the norm, there were so many acts of kindness, of both the planned and random variety.

Everywhere you looked, people at low risk of catching COVID-19 were shopping for those most threatened by the virus — the elderly, disabled and those with chronic health problems. Community refrigerators were set up to offer food to those in need. People bought a coffee — or even groceries — for complete strangers.

Added together these acts of kindness, however small they might have seemed separately, had a huge impact. In Toronto, a group of people cooked meals for those unable to do so. In Ottawa, neighbours donated food to a single mother to help her feed her child. In Prince Edward Island, a community gave grocery store gift cards to a woman who’d lost her job because of the pandemic.

Hamilton’s Arkells offered daily, online music classes to fans around the world. And in Kitchener, a group raised $2,000 for homeless people living in tiny homes at a former industrial site. Nor was such behaviour confined to Canada. Similar stories are being told in virtually every country on Earth,

Of course, as all this was happening, too many people were falling ill and dying from COVID-19. No kindly actions, however considered and considerate, could dispel the pain, suffering and anxiety caused by a microscopic virus.

What can be said with confidence is that as people everywhere reached out to each other, they shepherded humanity through 10 awful months. They showed, too, that this is not simply a “dog-eat-dog” world where every individual is involved some selfcentred, Hobbesian war of survival. There’s a basic goodness to be found in us all.

One of the most timely and reassuring books of the past year, “Humankind: A Hopeful History,” by Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, makes a compelling case for this viewpoint. After surveying millennia of human history, Bregman concludes that whatever the failings of our species, the true nature of humans is to be kind, caring and co-operative.

Some will disagree with Bregman. Nor can we say whether the outpourings of kindness that surged to the forefront this year will continue in 2021. But they do suggest that despite all the harm the pandemic has caused, people have found a positive way to respond.

This crisis is far from over. We know, too, that COVID-19 has shone a light on many grievous, social inequities that must be addressed. But we can draw on what we have learned about supporting one another in the past, extraordinary year to face with hope the challenges that lie ahead.

May you have a happy — and kind — new year.