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Needed: Smiles, Gentle Words, Acts of Kindness, Hugs, and Prayers.

There was another mass shooting last week. This time was particularly heinous as the gunman took so many young lives. We can’t help but ask why. What is happening? We can speculate, but no one really knows the reason.

What we can do is counter the heartache and evil with acts and thoughts of love. One drop of poison contaminates an entire pond and all who drink from it. The only way to diminish the poison is by dilution. The more water that is added, the less effect the poison will have.

It is the same with evil. One act contaminates the lives of many. The bigger the attack, the greater the ripple. We all feel it, don’t we?

Love dilutes evil. The extent of harm that was inflicted in recent events requires mass doses of love to counter it. The formula varies from 2 to 10 positives times one negative, but one thing is for sure, we need many more positives to counter that negative.

During this hectic time of year we must display more patience, kindness, and forgiveness. We must hold our tempers when cut off in traffic or in the check-out line, smile at the grumpy sales person, show a moment of kindness to strangers, and even more difficult, forgive the insensitivity of a loved one. Trying to get them to understand our daily struggles may never happen. Sometimes we just have to let it go.

These little things need to be done repeatedly each day by all of us to offset the damage done by a few. And it is in our best interest to do so. Our future depends on it.

©Mary K. Doyle