Helpers are out there
A lot of good is going on unnoticed
We live in very strange times. Never has this country enjoyed so much material prosperity, but we are beset with all manner of anxieties — about ourselves, our nation and our place in the world. It seems like most of us have this unsettling sense that ours is a civilization in decline. Economic stagnation and inequality. Hollywood celebrities, religious leaders and politicians caught in a web of horrifying sex scandals. Random psychopaths shooting up public places for the sheer thrill of it. There is a lot to fret over.
And, of course, the news media love to play this up — highlighting stories that speak to our fears, knowing full well that this drives viewers to tune in. Social media makes it even worse, turning our apprehension into full blown paranoia.
In these days of such spiritual distress, we should remind ourselves of this pearl of wisdom from Pittsburgh’s own Fred Rogers. “My mother used to say, whenever there would be any real catastrophe, ‘Always look for the helpers. There will always be helpers.’ If you look for the helpers, you’ll know that there’s hope.”
In the spirit of Mr. Rogers, I’d like to mention just two people I’ve encountered recently who are helping to make things better. You will hardly ever hear about people like them on the nightly news, and they will not dominate your social media feeds, but they are out there, working hard to make our communities nicer places.
Recently an elderly member of my church congregation named Jerry died after a brief illness. The suddenness of his passing made it difficult to bear, but he had nevertheless lived a full and blessed life. It was amazing to see how many people attended his funeral, but it was not altogether surprising — for Jerry’s lifelong commitment to public service had touched so many people’s lives.
Jerry was a giant in our church, serving at various times as an elder, deacon and Sunday school teacher. And he was truly dedicated to improving the community he lived in, working for organizations such as the Salvation Army, the Southwest Butler County Food Cupboard, the local community chest and Meals on Wheels. He judged senior projects for the neighboring high school. He even knitted 6,000 winter caps for poor kids.
Jerry also did all sorts of little things — lending or giving money to people who were short on cash, visiting senior citizens in nursing homes and remembering just about everybody’s birthday. Small gestures like that, he knew, could make a big difference in somebody’s life.
Another example: Earlier this month, I gave a speech at the Jefferson Educational Society in Erie, where I met the society’s director, Ferki Ferati. Mr. Ferati was born in Kosovo and immigrated from his war-torn homeland to Erie in the 1990s.
Like many small- to mid-sized industrial towns, Erie has suffered a brain drain in recent decades. Industrial capital has fled overseas, but intellectual capital has moved to places like Washington, D.C., and New York City.
Towns like Erie are also disadvantaged in the competition for public funds, as federal matching requirements often make it easier for larger and wealthier cities to outbid them. So, how is a culture of civic engagement maintained?
That is where the Jefferson Society comes in. Mr. Ferati and his team are dedicated to providing low-cost educational opportunities for Erie citizens, in the form of speeches, seminars and a Global Summit.
This is not a job of high glamour — somebody of Mr. Ferati’s talents could surely be well compensated in Washington or New York — but a well-educated citizenry is necessary for good governance, and Mr. Ferati takes this task very seriously.
These are, no doubt, unsettled times. But as Mr. Rogers would say, keep an eye out for the helpers. They are not the ones clamoring for attention, so they easily can be overlooked.
But they are there, working to make our communities better places.