I kind of hate watching the news, mostly because I haven't been able to keep up with the monstrosities happening in our world. The first thing I heard when I got off the plane from my mission trip to Haiti this summer were, "we're so glad you're OK," completely unaware about the attack that happened that past week in Kabul. I really can't think of any explanation as to why tragedies have continued to strike countries around the world so frequently lately.

I don't want to write pretending to have answers or solutions to what is going on in our world, but I do want to shed some light and encouragement upon these tragedies during this time.

Around the world, there have been several bombings and shootings in the past year. And I can't help but think, "Are these people clinically insane?" How someone could ever purposefully, voluntarily, take the lives of multiple innocent civilians is far beyond my comprehension. The concept that I struggle to understand most is why it continues to happen, what seems like every other week now.

Over a year ago, on June 16, 2015, tragedy struck my hometown of Charleston, SC. Nine African Americans were shot and killed during a bible study in a church downtown. Mothers, fathers, cousins, sisters, brothers, wives. Why or how someone could ever do such a thing is beyond my imagination. What I do know is that this city refused to let hatred and evil triumph. Friends, families, and even strangers came together in such a random time of need to support one another and to show love.

I was shocked, yet inspired by this. This is the love we need in our world. These are the things that matter, the things that are important. So, you had a bad day. So, you made a bad exam grade. So, your preferred presidential candidate lost. More hate is not going to fix any of that. Complaining about your bad day isn't going to make it any better. Calling your teacher rude names isn't going to fix your bad grade. Starting a riot with your friend on Facebook who has different political views than you isn't going to change who is running our country.

Choose to love people, especially when they're unkind to you. Choose to be happy, especially when people are trying to bring you down. Choose joy in a world of hate. It's such a simple thing we can all do to to be a small light in a world of darkness.