It seemed like any other pre-Christmas Sunday evening before my perception of our safe communities and lifestyle was forever changed.

News started filtering through that there had been a shooting incident in Bondi, New South Wales. Over the following few hours the situation became clearer that this was a targeted attack by two individuals on an outdoor Hanukkah celebration held at Bondi Beach. There were multiple victims.

The morning brought news of 15 fatalities including one 10 year old girl. Both perpetrators had been shot, one killed while the other was in hospital, as were 40 other victims.

Very quickly it was determined that this event was an Islamic State motivated event, the largest terrorist attack on our land and the second largest mass shooting. As the investigation unfolded we learned of multiple homemade explosives that, thankfully, didn’t detonate.

I very quickly became overwhelmed with the stories and images of the attack. The media was hungry for identities of the deceased and injured and were incessantly reporting any snippet of information they could mine.

I avoided writing about this incident because my brain could not cope with trying to process what drives people to cause such indiscriminate destruction. I am not sure I want to live in a world where innocent public gatherings can quickly turn into a matter of life or death.

Then I found it. The stories started to emerge of people confronting the evil that was trying to disrupt the community that day. There was the married couple who attacked one of gunmen as he was getting out of his car with a gun. There was a man who initially found safety before throwing objects at one of the shooters to try and stop him.

There was the Syrian Muslim man who didn’t think twice about disarming one of the gunmen before being shot by the other. Stop and think about that for a moment. A Muslim man stepped in to try and stop an attack on a Jewish celebration. Ahmed al-Ahmed was identified and (rightfully) celebrated as a hero for this action.

Then there were the accounts of the lifeguards who ran towards the unfolding incident with critical medical gear, other first responders who put their lives at risk to care for the dying and injured. Even tourists and bystanders who stepped in to help where they could – shielding people, offering places of safety and reassuring words to the scared.

Focussing on these actions has helped restore faith in my world. Rather than honing in on the misguided actions of two individuals I choose to look to those that put other’s needs ahead of their own, even at the risk of their own lives. Some paid that price.

Then I heard of a quote from Fred Rogers who told the story of his mother reassuring him when he saw things on the news that were scary and difficult to comprehend with these words: “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” While the evil in this world can loom large, there are more of us who choose to help than there are of them seeking destruction.

Today was the beginning of the Fifth Ashes Cricket test match being held in Sydney. Before the match began they chose to honour the Bondi victims along with the first responders and heroes from that fateful day. Representatives of various organisations, along with Ahmed al-Ahmed, walked out onto the ground through an honour guard formed by both teams. The standing ovation they received lasted for many minutes with people obviously moved by the emotion of it all. I am crying as I write about it, as I cried when I first saw the footage.

These are the actions worth remembering and honouring. These are the actions that restore hope and should inspire us all. May we be motivated by selflessness and love and grace in a world that often forgets it’s not just about the individual.

John chapter 1 and verse 5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Be a helper.

Be blessed.