Unless you live in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere, you’re familiar with the awful tragedies that occur in not only our country, but in fact our entire world, every single day. Watching the news has become an almost unbearable experience, due to the heartbreaking nature of most of the reported stories. It seems as if it is only getting more severe, as my grandmother always says, “You see an awful story on the news and you think you’ll never see anything worse, but then you do.” Especially lately, in the wake of the tragedies in Orlando, it can become increasingly difficult to love the world we live in, when there is so much evil, so much hatred, and so much pain. With all that is going on in our nation and beyond, how can we keep loving it?

With so many horrible tragedies occurring, it can become easy to overlook the pure benevolence occurring in our world. How often do we actually recognize the goodness in spite of the bad? Here’s something amazing: an average of 353,000 babies are born each day, meaning that today there are 353,000 new innocent lives, full of promise and potential, and tomorrow there will be 353,000 more. There is an estimated 1.5 million non-profit organizations in the United States alone, dedicated to changing lives and helping those in need. Even something as simple as knowing that by just smiling at someone, you could change their mood, their day, or possibly their life. These things serve as a reminder that our world does contain pure goodness. Even though tragedies occur every day, miracles take place every day too, and I think that’s something to believe in.

Granted, the good things don’t erase the bad; as much as we wish they could, they cannot. I think it goes without saying that we live in a very broken world. The amount of pain and suffering exhibited in our world is heartbreakingly high, and it seems to be constantly on the rise. Loving the world requires us to care for those who are suffering, reach out to those who have gone astray, and pray for the current and future state of our world.

So the question is, if we know what the world is like — how awful it can really be, can we still love the world? Can we trust that there is still good, benevolence that exists? That’s a choice that everyone has to make on their own, but I believe that we can know the world and still love the world. I believe that we can see and feel pain, and love more as a result. I believe that we can witness evil and better learn how to do good. Most of all, I believe that we can live in this world with all of it’s malevolence, and still hold the belief that there is good within it.