In hurricane-devastated Hoboken, New Jersey, 11 year old Lucy Walkowiac creates a pop-up internet cafe and charging station for her neighbors without power for a small donation to the Red Cross. An organization forms to reunite pets with their families. A memorial is held in Bangalore, India for the victims of the recent tragic elementary school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. People step up to help each other recover, mourn, clean-up, and heal.

    Both the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts and the worldwide outpouring of love and prayers for the families of the recent Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting tragedy demonstrate a part of our humanity that rarely gets sufficient attention. We care.

    Had these occurrences not happened news would have continued as usual to catalog the most recent shocking behaviors of stars, military men and politicians, bemoaned the global financial situation, or focused on some other bad news to draw viewers to their network and their sponsors. But at such extraordinary times, these events work and coverage is abundant.

    We care isn’t so exciting unless it happens after a disaster. Every day caring doesn’t show up on the evening news or in op-ed pieces in magazines and newspapers. No one writes books, songs or produces movies about it. It isn’t fascinating or shocking precisely because it is common and true. It is easy for us to think that greed, betrayal, paranoia and aggression are the norm when they get so much time and energy. If they were typical everywhere, they would be less newsworthy.

    But think about the photos that get passed around on Facebook. So many of them are touching animal or people photos. We see caring expressed in the animal world and relate it to ourselves. We see images of others giving love and it encourages our faith in human beings.

    Actually, human beings can’t help caring. It’s in our nature to do so. If we stop giving to people on street corners it’s because we begin to believe we can’t help them all, and what we give isn’t enough to matter anyway. So we look away.

    In times of disaster, though, we know that anything we can give or do matters. People go to extraordinary lengths to help in unusually difficult times. We want to make it better–we want to make a difference. We want to ease others’ pain and feel useful. We pray, we donate, we volunteer, we vote, we write our political representatives.

    What we do may feel small, but everything we do matters, not only when a disaster has occurred, but where we are right now, today. You might not see the fruit of your caring, but it’s there all the same. Do what your heart calls you to do in this Season of Love. Donate food, money and clothing. Volunteer. And most of all, smile and be kind.