Another tragedy has unfolded on the East Coast today: two bombs went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing 2 and injuring well over 100 people.

The news spread like wildfire. There are videos that captured the blasts and graphic pictures of the aftermath, and people can be seen heading toward the smoke and confusion to tend to the injured. I was reminded of Mister Rogers’ quote about helpers:

“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.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world.”

I was also reminded of how emotionally and spiritually exhausting the 24-hour news cycle can be, especially in the face of a tragedy or disaster. Viewers are barraged with recycled pictures and video clips, eyewitness accounts, speculation, insensitive interviews… all for the sake of having something to talk about. In my search for the exact wording of Mister Rogers’ quote, I came across a video of his TV Hall of Fame acceptance speech. He gave this speech in 1999 — one month before Columbine, two years before 9/11, years before the school shootings that followed Columbine and natural disasters that destroyed cities, at the cusp of the round-the-clock news where the daily tragedies and injustices that happen all around the world are reported every 15 minutes — and even then he had some poignant words about what television should be doing for its viewers:

“Life isn’t cheap. It’s the greatest mystery of any millennium, and television needs to do all it can to broadcast that - to show and tell what the good in life is all about. But how do we make goodness attractive? By doing whatever we can to bring courage to those whose lives move near our own, by treating our neighbor at least as well as we treat ourselves, and allowing that to inform everything that we produce.”

“We all have only one life to live on Earth. And through television, we have the choice of encouraging others to demean this life or to cherish it in creative, imaginative ways.”

Life - our precious, fleeting time on this planet together - continues to remind us that there is good among the bad. We can’t change how a network reports the news or disconnect a world that is literally at our fingertips. We should instead focus our energy on the positives within a vastly connected population, like how people can search the Red Cross Safe and Well Listing and Google Person Finder for loved ones or find housing through Boston-area Couchsurfers or remain up-to-date on what the Red Cross needs to assist those who were affected. If nothing else, use information like that to remind yourself that there are still so many helpers; the vast majority of us chose to cherish life. Keep yourself from getting sucked into the despair that can come with the 24/7 news cycle. The victims, first responders, emergency personnel, volunteers, bystanders, and all of their families need our strength, support, and love.

As do those whose lives move near our own.

Our neighbors.