In this sometimes dark and frightening world, it’s important to remind ourselves every now and then of the forces for good that keep popping up here, there and everywhere.
This past week, such good reminders abounded. First off, locally, there was the fundraising golf event for the Tom Bearson Foundation. Despite threatening weather, more than 300 participants golfed or showed their support in other ways at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course Saturday. Bearson was the young Sartell man who was murdered last September while he was a student at North Dakota State University, a murder not yet solved. As utterly devastating as that tragedy was, family and friends got together after grieving for so many months and decided to share Tom’s memory and his spirit with others via the Tom Bearson Foundation. They started the non-profit organization to promote gym space for activities (Tom was a superb basketball player, passionately committed to the sport); to fund new or expanded activities programs; to promote campus-safety programs; and to give four scholarships for scholastic and athletic achievements – two for boys, two for girls. What a great way to honor the memory of Tom Bearson while keeping his irrepressible spirit alive in so many other young people. To donate to the foundation, go to www.tombearson.org and click on the “Donate” button.
Another “upper” happened north of Paris last Friday when three Americans on a speeding train subdued an extremist madman before he could start a shooting-killing spree. The 26-year-old, with apparent ties to Islamist extremists, was armed with an automatic rifle, nine clips of ammunition, a knife and box-cutter. He had enough bullets to kill more than 200 people.
Fortunately, there were three American heroes on that train. One of them, Air Force member Spencer Stone, barreled down the aisle and tackled the gunman, Stone’s friend Alek Skariatos wrestled the rifle away from the extremist, and their friend Anthony Sadler also helped subdue the man, who had used his box cutter to slash Stone three times. Thankfully, Stone has been treated for those injuries and is doing just fine. Stone is from Carmichael; Sadler is a senior at California State University in Sacramento; Skariatos is an Oregon National Guard member. A fourth man, a Briton, also helped subdue and hog-tie the would-be killer.
The fearless, exemplary actions of those men are like the actions of the courageous men on the doomed flight over Pennsylvania Sept. 11, 2001. Yelling “Let’s roll!,” they charged the hijackers of that flight, forcing it to crash before the lunatic fiends in the cockpit could turn it toward Washington, D.C., where they planned to crash it into the U.S. Capitol or the White House.
There is a third case of exemplary behavior this past week: former President Jimmy Carter, who announced at a press briefing that cancer had spread to his brain. Carter made the announcement coolly, calmly, with gentle humor, grace under pressure and head-on courage. Four days later, he was back at his church in Plains, Ga., teaching Sunday School classes just as he has done for years. It’s generally acknowledged Carter was not a great president, but he has been a great down-to-earth human being – a man of kindness, compassion and courage, all informed by a deep and abiding faith.
As the purveyors violent extremism continue with their evil actions throughout the world, we should remind ourselves they are not going to win anything ultimately. They are infinite losers. Good people will prevail.
