The number of news stories related to tragedies, crime and natural disasters is disproportionate to those related to solidarity, support, generosity and love that occur every day.
What benefit can the agencies and groups that control the media derive by promoting bleak news? What effect does the constant bombardment of “apocalyptic” or end-of-the-world stories have on the population?
The most notable fruit of this disparity is fear, and fear silences consciences and paralyzes wills.
We have all experienced fear in our lives, have felt paralyzed, impotent. The more widespread fear is, the greater power and control those who cultivate fear gain.
It’s not about hiding from the critical reality that we have utilized, without conscience, the earth’s resources, contaminating it, destroying it. It’s not about ignoring the difficulty we have living together and respecting our beliefs and cultures, or ignoring the wars raging around the world, claiming innocent lives. In Gaza alone, nearly 17,000 children have perished since the war began in 2023.
While these realities exist, innumerable acts of solidarity also exist: the mobilization of doctors who provide emergency healthcare; the arrival of volunteers who provide food and medicine; and the churches that open their doors to those without shelter. There are countless human gestures of generosity and love: a child that accompanies his grandfather among the ruins; a mother who does not eat so her child can; a person who shares his ration of water with a stranger; a rescue worker who risks his life to try to save someone else’s; communities that pray and send resources to areas devastated by flooding. As the proverb tells us, “Evil makes a lot of noise, but goodness is silent.”
I don’t want to deny the overwhelming reality of evil and its tragic, deadly consequences, but I will not allow it to blind me from seeing the power, the beauty and the hope that come from countless acts of generosity and solidarity, that spring from a consciousness that we are all part of one family, interconnected, brothers and sisters.
I am saddened by the recent news of the floods in Texas; I’m moved by the tragedies unfolding in Gaza, Sudan, Venezuela, Ukraine and elsewhere. At the same time, my hope is sustained by the response by so many people who are anonymously working to help, heal and save lives.
Evil does not have the final word because these people exist, and I am profoundly grateful to them. Their simple, daily actions sustain us from what could be a global collapse.
In a world that rewards the spectacular, the Gospel of Jesus reminds us that the simplest and most humble actions are those that truly sustain brotherhood and build community: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; I needed clothes and you clothed me; I was sick and you looked after me; I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matt 25:35-36).
And now I ask you: What small gesture can you do today to be part of that silent web that sustains our life and our hope? Who can you thank today for sustaining us with their everyday kindness? What do you choose to do — even the simplest act — so that evil does not have the final word?
Ricardo Márquez can be reached at marquez_muskus@yahoo.com.
