Let us Give Thanks       How to Notice Blessings with Gratitude When Countering Violence   Fred Rogers           In an interview after hosting a long-running children’s show called “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood,” Fred Rogers offered advice for how parents can help children cope with news of disasters. This has <1 href="http://cts.vresp.com/c/?ConsistentLife/f7cb2adddb/518422a1ee/a4c9fb43e8" target="_blank">recently been applied to the events in Paris.             “My mother used to say, a long time ago, whenever there would be any catastrophe that was in the movies or on the air, she would say, 'Always look for the helpers.' There will always be helpers. Even just on the sidelines. That’s why I think that if news programs could make a conscious effort of showing rescue teams, of showing medical people, anybody who is coming into a place where there’s a tragedy, to be sure that they include that. Because if you look for the helpers, you'll know that there's hope."   ^^^^^^^   Elie Wiesel Speech on accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, 1986               I express to you my deepest gratitude. No one is capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night. We know that every moment is a moment of grace, every hour an offering; not to share them would mean to betray them. Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.   ^^^^^^^   Catherine Whitmire Practicing Peace, 2007               Bayard Rustin, chief organizer of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington, D.C., once spent a weekend in New York City doing political canvassing . . . tall tenements loomed over narrow streets, filtering out most of the sunlight and darkening the debris-littered sidewalks. His canvassing partner for the weekend said that for the first hours or so he had a difficult time following Bayard because he was erratic in his canvassing . . . After a while, his canvassing partner recognized the pattern: Bayard walked only on the sunlit side of the street and lingered for a few moments on each corner where he took pleasure in lifting his face toward the sun. After observing Bayard finding enjoyment in difficult circumstances, his canvassing partner concluded that Bayard had the strength to survive the abuse and jail sentences he endured as a civil rights organizer, in large part because he so deeply cherished the gift of life.     Photo: Bayard Rustin in center, four children unidentified. From Wikimedia Commons

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