This just in …

Today, more than 7 billion people worldwide chose not to kill anyone.

The vast majority of these non-murderers also chose not to rape, maim, or assault anyone.

They chose not to commit arson or throw acid on anyone. They also chose not to punch or bite or spit on anyone.

Most didn’t even spew hate with words.

Instead, they chose to live in peace with their neighbors, in every region across the globe.

They came in all colors, shapes, and sizes. All religions, creeds, and ideologies were represented.

Among them, they disagreed on almost everything: faith, politics, morality, history, economics, and on and on.

But they agreed, at the very least, to keep the peace.

Many went a great deal further than that. They tried to love their neighbors as themselves, or to do unto others as they would have done unto them.

Some helped a friend or loved one get through a tough time. Others gave a total stranger a hand for no obvious reason at all–other than to feed their own humanity.

Each of them was flawed and confused in some ways. But not in the way that matters most.

It’s true:  Billions of people today sought to help and not to hurt.

These people were not the exception. They were the rule.

They didn’t make the news, but God knows we shouldn’t forget them–these other 7-billion-plus.

The vast majority of us are them, after all. And they are us.