The Mid-Holiday Stretch

I almost titled this post "The Mid-Holiday Blues" and that would have been fairly accurate. Christmas is gone (and a lovely Christmas it was), but New Years Eve and my Holiday break leave me not yet mentally in work mode.

And if the Holidays are like a sea around me, insulating me from reality for a few weeks of this year, then tragedies keep surfacing like bubbles around me to remind me that the world doesn't stop turning just because we chose these days to celebrate. For the families and friends of the people who died in the earthquake and the tsunami, prayers and my best hopes seem like a little too little; for the survivors who have to piece their lives back together, it's good to see the gifts of the world (and, yes, even this supposedly stingy nation) pouring in to relieve some of the burden.

Aside from the money that our government will give--along with material and food aid--the charity of Americans is almost unbelievable. Since just yesterday when I went to Amazon to send a donation to the Red Cross, the amount of money donated from individuals has risen from just a few hundred thousand dollars to nearly 1.8 million dollars. Sit on the site for a few minutes, clicking on the refresh button, and you'll see the number of donors and the donation rise with each click. In fact, by the time I've written this paragraph, the amount has risen to well over 1.8 million dollars.

Again, the charity of common people is spectacular, and the willingness to help others in true times of need always shines through in human nature. While the left seems to believe that people have to be coerced by taxes into helping, the truth is that the urge to aid, the urge to succor, is simply a part of most of us.

That isn't a surprise when faced with the reality of our nation's giving in a normal year. Well over 200 billion dollars were given through private donations to national and international charitable organizations last year alone.

So, yes, when those tragedies surface around me, and I see the response from ordinary people around this country, it reminds me that the world doesn't stop for our tragedies. It also reminds me that there is an overwhelming good in us when there is an overwhelming need in others.

God bless each and every one of you who has done a part to relieve the suffering of others. There is an astounding beauty in what you've done.