What happened in Manchester this week is so devastating.  Young girls at a concert with their idol.  Celebrating music and life and being young.  A rite of passage that we have all travelled in our youth.

And then to have that innocence torn away by hatred.  It is impossible to understand.

As I watched the chaos unfold, what struck me was the helpers.  The first responders running in when everyone was running  out.  The grandma at the train station who shepherded 50 youngsters to a hotel to keep them safe.  The barrage of tweets from strangers offering their homes to those who needed refuge or rides to those who had no way to get back to their family.

On the 50th anniversary of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, it reminded me of something he once said. “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

As we hug our family a little closer and pray for those who lost loved ones in this horrific tragedy, may we remember that love will always conquer hate. We must lead the way with kindness and bravery and inclusion and love.  There will always be helpers.  And may we be one of them.