The Better Angels of our Nature

Lately, it seems as though the opportunities to see the worst in humanity have multiplied at unbelievable rates.

The recent tragic shootings in Tucson, Arizona only serve to exacerbate that sense that the better angels of human nature are in hiding... that the world has gotten very ugly and is only getting uglier.

From the corrosive nature of our national discourse to the fixation on vapid fame, attention-seeking, and sensationalism, is it any wonder that faith in our fellow humans appears to be dwindling?

And yet, those feelings and assumptions do a great injustice to people who do good without any exterior motivation to do so.

I recently had the pleasure of nominating two of these fine individuals for service awards here in the Valley of the Sun. Both are faculty members at Midwestern University's Glendale Campus, and both are notable for their philanthropy and dedication to helping others.

I spoke to their peers prior to nominating them for the awards, mostly because I am still very new at my job and still do not know many people on campus with any degree of intimacy. I was struck by the uniformity of the responses. "He is such a wonderful guy" was one popular refrain... spoken about both nominees, but by different people at different times.

I particularly remember one comment, made with a somewhat perplexed expression by someone who knows one of the nominees: "He never turns it off (referring to the nominee's desire to find new ways to perform community service). It's all he talks about. He talks about it at work, he talks about it when he's at home, he talks about it with students over meals. He is simply amazing."

And yet, when I contacted these gentlemen to let them know I was nominating them, both of them seemed surprised that they were candidates. They expressed how honored they were to be considered and left it at that. My thinking is that they do not spend their days thinking of perks and payback while embarking on their endeavors; thus, the idea that they might be honored simply does not occur to them very often.

I debated about telling you who these men are. I decided against it. Some of you reading this will know who I am talking about, but those of you who do not... I want you to remain in the dark.  Not because I feel like these men do not deserve plaudits or recognition - far from it, in fact. But I like the idea of you walking around campus, looking at the people milling about and knowing that someone among them is actively involved in doing good for others, but not knowing exactly who. Therefore, it could conceivably be anybody, right?

Knowing that there are some "better angels" out there among us - in close proximity, even - might help us to remember that we are capable of a far greater good than might seem possible while watching the evening news.