But today newspapers, radio, television and the Internet provide almost instantaneous communications.
Last week there was one shocking report after another occurring in the news in this country and other parts of the world.
First there was news of the block party in Toronto last Monday when two people were killed and over 20 injured in a shooting spree. One of the injured was a young child who was attending the party, primarily organized for children.
Then the following two nights there were two more consecutive shooting incidents that have Canada’s largest city in a turmoil.
And Thursday the premiere of the latest Batman movie in a small Colorado community sparked a 24-year-old man to enter the theatre and set off a smoke bomb and pull out a gun to fire off enough bullets to kill some dozen people and injure 50 or more. He said he was one of the Batman characters – ‘The Joker’.
Most national newscasts are now carrying nightly reports of Syrians being massacred in their hometowns, many by their own government soldiers/mercenaries. The visual scenes being displayed are distributing to say the least.
The world is offering up very distressing situations that seem to cast little or no value on human life. So much so, some parents refuse to allow their children to listen to or watch the news.
But then in the midst of what seemed a bombardment of negative happenings came a report in the St. John’s media of Husky Energy employees taking a day away from their routine to carry out a volunteer painting and landscaping project at ‘Daffodil Place’, under construction adjacent to the Health Science Centre.
The facility will offer a home away from home for rural cancer patients, in the main, undergoing treatment for the disease.
All of Newfoundland and Labrador has contributed to the fundraising dollars generated for Daffodil Place, to be operated by the Canadian Cancer Society-Newfoundland and Labrador Division.
There have been major financial contributions for this facility from corporate entities, but also smaller contributions made as a result of bake sales or coin collections from church groups and even children. Young people have been generous enough to shave their hair in community fundraisers aimed at helping children trying to recover from cancer.
It’s projects like this that inspire people and allow us to believe the cruelty ongoing in different parts of the world is offset by the humanity of the majority of the earth’s population. Helping others to achieve and succeed is what fills our spirits with the joy and love to push us all to the point of triumph for the good of (wo) man.
For every disheartening occurrence in our lives there are many more joyous events that indeed make life worth living.
George Macvicar, Editor/Manager
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