Headlines

Here are some of the headlines I read on ksl.com this Monday morning:

Police find girl's body in Jordan River, investigating as murder

US Army sergeant kills 16 in Afghan villages

Man wanted for 22 murders nabbed in Panama

It's enough to send you into a depression. Without even reading the stories. So much evil, and so widespread. Just another day, with a few more people leaving their mark on the world. A really, terribly, awful mark. This got me wondering about the kind of mark I'm leaving on the world. Nope. I'm not killing anyone. But what am I doing? It's not enough to not be doing anything bad. There's that quote attributed to various people that says

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

We've got to be out actively doing good. For every one bad deed, we need at least two or three good ones--preferably a whole lot more. We've got to be leaving people better than we find them. Wendell Phillips said

How prudently most men creep into nameless graves; while now and then one or two forget themselves into immortality. 

These are the men who ignite fires within others. They don't go about serving and doing good for fame's sake--they go about doing good to bring glory to God, and they end up inspiring others to follow their example.
That was a bit of a tangent. The real point I want to talk about is that the news is an awfully skewed representation of what our world looks like. Ideally, the news acts as a motivator, informing us of the things that need changing in the world. But sometimes, it feels more like your evil shoulder angel, taunting you and reminding you that, no matter how happy you feel, there are terrible things happening all around; no matter how much good you're doing, somebody's out there doing more bad.
This is why I feel like somebody needs to be out there, writing the other side of the story. There are so many people out there doing good things, great things, miraculous things. I'm reminded of this as I work in the temple every Wednesday.
-There are 4,500 workers who run the Provo Temple. They are all volunteers. A high percentage of them are elderly. That means, they could be at home, watching old war movies, or playing with their grandchildren. But they're not. They're dedicating hours every week to serve in the House of God.
-I don't know how many patrons come through the temple on an average day, but IT. IS. A. LOT. We've got starving, stressed students.We've got elderly couples. We've got widows and widowers. We've got newlyweds. We've got teenagers. We've got young couples with multiple rambunctious children at home. We've got full-time missionaries. We've got middle-aged couples. We've got it all. And as I watch people like Sister Mazariegos who comes daily to the temple, I just feel so grateful for all the wonderful people giving of their time and talents to good causes.
I'm again reminded of the good people are doing as I watch students come to our office to plan their time abroad--students who are serving in developing countries in so many different ways. These students are paying (sometimes paying a pretty penny) for the opportunity to give.
I'm reminded as I read the one-in-a-hundred article about something selfless someone's done--like the mother who lost her legs saving her children from a tornado two weeks ago.
Good is happening. Am I involved? Are you?