We have more empathy for other people when we’re more intimately aware of their suffering. A name, a face, and specific details about what happened to them can help us relate to them and what they’re going through. Their story becomes more real to us and we begin to feel what we would feel if we were them.

When the story of a toddler trapped in a well makes international news, the whole world stops and takes notice. It notices the value of a single human life and does whatever it can to help.

Such real-life stories are what make the world move. They cross divisions of all types and make pettiness intolerable.

“The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.” ~ William Hurt’s character in The Village (watch the scene here)