Amazing Story of Random Kindness | Pope Visits Auschwitz | Canadian Kindness For Syrian Refugees – Legends Report
Image by Leena Al-Arian
By Jairaj Singh, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International
We turn on the news and it can seem like it’s fear and bloodshed everywhere. We read the newspapers and it’s a similar story. Sadly much of the media certainly in the West thrives on fear and sensationalism. Thankfully with the power of the internet we get to see the good side of humanity too. The kindness and compassion that exists in all of us deep down and today I wanted to focus our stories on that. They certainly restored my faith in humanity and we all need these reminders sometimes.
The touching Facebook post below was written last week by a muslim woman; Leena Al-Arian who had taken her kids to a Barnes & Noble book store. She was approached by a random man as she explained:
“He had tears in his eyes and told me that it must be so hard to turn on the news, that he feels awful about the bigotry my kids might one day experience, and that as a Jewish man whose parents didn’t speak any English growing up, he personally understands what it feels like to be rejected and discriminated against.
I asked if I could give him a hug (he looked like he needed one more than me, but I guess I needed one too) and he wanted to reassure me that most Americans are decent people who don’t hate people like me or believe what they hear on the news.”
Empathy is a legendary trait. It’s a fundamental principle of life, to be able to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes and understand their world. We all need more of it and one man’s humbling gesture can teach us all a powerful lesson. Thanks to The Independent for posting this story. Here’s her Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/leena.alarian/posts/10100900193531770
However bad we feel things may be in society, we would do well to remember that the world is actually far more at peace than many times in human history. One of the darkest of those chapters in history being the concentration camps used in WWII and few names represent that more than Auschwitz. On Friday 29th July Pope Francis visited the site of the Jewish atrocities. He spent the first minutes of his visit to Auschwitz sitting on a bench praying, according to a report in The Guardian. He spent the whole visit in silence and contemplation, walking amongst areas that would have been full of dead and dying Jewish people. It’s a harrowing reminder to be thankful we live in a time of relative peace and as the Jewish man in the story above shows, reach out to our fellow human beings with kindness and compassion.
Ordinary Canadians Come To The Rescue of Syrian Family
Another heart-warming story published on Upworthy on Friday 29th July that’s gone viral on Facebook for our final story. Another humbling example of everyday legends giving compassion and kindness…
“So after a hectic week I arrived at union to head home. A family from Syria was also caught in the hustle of union rush hour and only the oldest child (11) of the 5 in the group spoke English.
They were trying to get to London to be with family. They came to Canada 4 months ago. A young woman in her early 20’s was helping them and she bought their train tickets to be kind. They had 2 baby strollers and 3 other kids and heavy bags so I helped them get to the train but other random strangers picked up strollers and bags to help them up the stairs as well. Once on the train I realized they had gotten some incorrect advice as they were on Lake Shore West and were headed the wrong way.
I spoke to the helpful man working on the GO train to find out where they had to go to get a bus to London. It was Aldershot but there was only a via train which cost a lot and they had budgeted for much less. The error was not their fault. So I missed my stop and went with them, planning to buy 7 train tickets because thats what we do in Canada. We help. Every one on the GO train was also helping, calling friends who spoke Arabic and giving me money to help cover their ticket costs. We got to the train station and right before I could pay the fares a lady came running out of the GO kisok yelling stop!
Some how the main GO company had heard what was happening and was sending a bus to take the family to London. It was almost overwhelming, the way people wanted to help. It has been one of the most moving experiences.
The number of people who on a random hot july Wednesday during rush hour who tried to help a family of strangers who are our newest Canadians.
Lots of bad things happening in the world right now and not enough compassion. Compassion is better. A huge thank you to GO Transit and all the random kind people I encountered today. You are why this is an amazing country.”
Here’s the Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/vhtaylor/posts/10154186327941438