We are blessed to live in a community where people help and care for others. There’s no hesitation when people see a need, they pitch in and help. It’s the big heart of our city and the surrounding communities that really is our best selling point for living here. It’s invisible to the naked eye and can’t be indicated to its full capacity on any promotion of our town. It’s not something that can be measured on a graph or chart. It’s just the way we are. Our community’s compassion is off the chart.

In last week’s Courier there was an article about the need for funding for our senior citizens, particularly the meal program provided by BRAD. Currently, BRAD serves meals to over 50 seniors in Corning through homebound and congregate meals. They only receive funding to feed 34 seniors. How do you tell someone on a fixed income who relies on that meal that you’re no longer feeding them? In the piece I included the contact information for our legislators and governor. I have no doubt that some caring people will write or call them in order to express how important this issue is for our older population. In fact, a strong example of the measure of our community’s humanity, is within Growing Corning Together, who met at the Corning Senior Wellness Center last Thursday night to discuss hosting three fundraisers to benefit the meal program.

A few years ago, I wrote a series of newspaper articles about the rainy day funds being held at the time that could help Arkansas seniors. I presented some facts about the need. Our community responded and wrote to our then Gov. Asa Hutchinson and he mentioned to our former State Rep. Joe Jett that he had heard our community. That’s the caring, humane stock of people we have in our area. They see people in need and they help.

I wonder if other communities possess the same level of empathy when I see how people behave on social media. The ugliness of the world creeps out onto various platforms, especially during election season.

My grandma used to tell me as a young girl, “Don’t be ugly” meaning behave yourself and be kind. She used the word, “pretty”, to refer to behavior, and not one’s outer appearance. To be pretty on the inside was a goal or prize to be achieved. She was one of the kindest people I have ever known. She went out of her way to help others.

If you saw the raw pride that young Gus Walz exhibited when his dad, Tim came out on stage at the Democratic National Convention to accept his vice presidential nomination, it was an emotional moment that tugged at the hearts of many people. Regardless of your political party affiliation, it was heartwarming to see him cheering his dad on with his exclamations of, “That’s my dad!” For some reason, there’s a section of our country’s people who have thought that the children of candidates or those in office, are fair game to ridicule or belittle. In my generation, it has been Amy Carter, Jenna and Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Malia and Sasha Obama, Barron Trump and last week, it was Gus that became their target. For the life of me, I don’t understand cruelty. Anyone who has had a wonderful father or who has children should have understood the emotion that Gus felt that night. Supportive families are the backbone and a big indicator of a person’s success in life. Not to say that a person cannot be successful without that support, but it sure goes a long way. It is something that educators witness firsthand. There are times when good or bad things happen in my life that I wish I could share with my late dad. He and my mom were the proudest of me and my sister when we accomplished goals or positive achievements were made. And they were there when things went awry as well. Good parents are the biggest cheerleaders of their children, and Gus Walz was repaying the support he has received from his dad the other night. His response to seeing his dad walk on the stage was like witnessing pure love in its rawest form.

There is so much to achieve in this life, that there simply is no time, space or bandwidth for meanness or bullies. People who intimidate others are humans so unhappy with themselves it leaks out onto others like dark ink spilled onto a crisp white shirt that bleeds and soaks into the woven fabric. The material will never be pristine again as it is stained. Just as bullying leaves a mark on people. That’s the way it is when oppressors attack others they perceive as fragile. A person who has to make someone else feel small or less than is the weak one. There’s a defect in their values and character.

One thing that bullies do not understand is that their actions are like flashing signboards around their necks that indicate they are in pain or unhappy. People can hurt others when they are injured themselves. Their deficiency can be healed but takes a conscious and dedicated effort.

You can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat the most vulnerable in our society, children, the elderly and the sick. I would also add animals to that list.

You can’t control much, but you can control how you treat others. Let your kindness be your badge of courage, your compass and true North. In a world of uncertainties, your compassion for others should be a certainty.

Pam Lowe is the editor of the Clay County Courier. Readers may contact Pam at plowe@cherryroad.com