Well, it was less than a week ago when the first blasts of winter hit New England with a bang. Our neighborhood was having a multi-family yard sale and “yard-sailors” were coming by in droves—beginning with the “Early Birds” and continuing to the time when the first precipitation was beginning to hit the ground and we were all closing shop.

I had just gotten back from a short but fast bicycle ride as the temperature continued to plummet and the winds increased.  I specifically rode the bike path out thinking that if the weather reports were accurate, I might not get to see it for several weeks.

And then—as we all know only too well—it hit and it hit big!

The power was off over night but was restored by morning in our neighborhood.  I know that was not the case for many of our fellow Arlingtonians, and certainly not for folks in a lot of the surrounding towns.

But one of things that I did observe, and participated in, was how quickly the neighborhood came together in helping each other—clearing branches away from lines and cars, helping shovel, and generally making sure everyone was OK.

It was one of those moments—when push comes to shove—that speaks of the innate goodness of people.  And that goodness, for me, is about the spiritual qualities that we all possess.  Qualities of kindness, selflessness, helpfulness.  Qualities that I’ve seen demonstrated time and again whenever there is a major event or disaster or worse.

Those spiritual qualities are about loving our neighbor as ourselves—a concept that’s at the core of many religious/spiritual traditions around the world.

And it’s a concept that’s—as far as I’m concerned—fundamental to living a rewarding life.

The kind of aftereffects that we could all use everyday.

What about you?  What did you see?