Posted by Jim_Daly Jun 21, 2012
A heart-wrenching 10-minute video of a 68-year-old bus monitor in upstate New York, Karen Klein, being bullied by middle school students has gone viral and is being played and replayed on cable news today.
In many ways, the video captures what is wrong with our culture. We see and hear students disrespecting an elder, hurling insults and horrible vulgarities. It is a microcosm of a broken system, of children running wild, at taxpayers' expense, no less! We see Mrs. Klein trying to repel the attack by ignoring them, but the rascals want a fight. Her restraint is met with one verbal barrage after another.
It is a horrendous scene, of course, and leaves one with a sickening feeling. It also leaves one feeling depressed, thinking this is a snapshot of a future generation.
But that’s not the end of the story.
In response to the video, a web page was set up to try and raise $5,000 and send this bullied grandmother on a “vacation of a lifetime.” Mrs. Klein makes just over $15,000 a year.
To date, over $250,000 has been donated!
This type of response speaks, I believe, to the reservoir of goodwill that exists in our culture. It may be competing with evil and wickedness, but the kindness is there, and it runs deep.
Make no mistake about it. We are engaged in a great clash of cultures, between the principalities of light and darkness (Ephesians 6:12).
So if you start to lose hope, if you begin to worry that the bad has trumped the good, remember that we are promised that God will ultimately prevail.
You might also think about a grandmother named Karen Klein who has now experienced the goodwill of a good many people.
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