Last Tuesday, the story of Isaiah Jarvis, who in the middle of the Little League Southwest Region World Series baseball game, got hit in the head with a baseball and responded with hugging the distraught pitcher who tossed the ball, appeared everywhere. If you are in the US, you probably saw this because it went viral, but in case you didn’t, here it is:

At first, upon seeing this story, I was comforted to witness such an act of kindness. What a great kid! I must admit, however, I was bothered a little that such an act of forgiveness made so much news. Why should such behavior be so surprising? Don’t get me wrong, I love these stories, and I am happy they get the visibility they deserve. However, I hope this becomes the norm and not the exception. Perhaps giving such visibility is one way to model such acts of kindness that may not otherwise be reinforced.

On a similar note, I went online and saw a number of stories by Steve Hartman, a CBS News Reporter, whose “On The Road” reports give these stories a place of their own. If you google, Steve Hartman and “On The Road”, you will see many such stories. Here is one from years ago I thought would strike a cord with the Monday Morning Mojo readership.

Amidst listening to some of the troubling testimony of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones this past week and how he pestered victims of the Sandy Hook shooting, these stories helped give me some balance and were worthy of a share in today’s post.

Hometown Compassion

I also witnessed a heavy dose of compassion in my own hometown last month from those students, alumni and friends who remembered our beloved soccer coach, PE teacher, driver’s ed instructor, father, husband, grandfather and friend, Paul Dresser, by attending his memorial soccer game and contributing to his scholarship fund. Here’s a picture from that event that took place on July 23, 2022.

This is all just a reminder that there is a lot of good out there. It’s nice to not have to work to find it.

Have a great week ahead.