Lesson from a Standoff

I was in the car yesterday, returning to Munster from Chesterton, and happened to hear a news item on the radio which got me thinking.

The report was of a standoff in one of Chicago’s southwest suburbs coming to a close with the person who had barricaded himself in a house for a few hours, shooting and injuring himself.

Though unfortunate, thankfully, no innocent bystanders were hurt, and things ended relatively simply.

Among the ramifications of the standoff, in addition to roads being closed and traffic backing up, was that the local school’s last day was postponed.

In the big picture, not a big deal, but here is where my mind began wandering.

One clearly deranged individual may have spoiled many people’s plans, just by standing in an empty building for a few hours, with a gun. Families that may have made plans for the day after school, or were looking forward to the beginning of summer vacation, now had to scramble to alter their schedules in order to accommodate the additional school day.

If an unbalanced person can affect so many people’s lives, just think how much a stable, healthy person can influence the world by a small act of kindness. And imagine how positively the world can be affected by millions of individual good deeds.

Don’t sit around waiting for your moment in the spotlight. Get out, do something good, and the spotlight will find you.