Lifting others up: The stark contrast between Michele and Rob Reiner and Donald Trump

They spent their lives lifting others up, unselfishly and with joy.

The contrast could not be more stark. The unending stream of tributes describing Michele and Rob Reiner share a unifying theme: Their humanity, kindness and unceasing devotion to bringing joy and lifting others up. It is legacy we should all wish for ourselves, and an inspiration to do the right thing, to help others when given the chance.

There is no need to reproduce Donald Trump’s vile comments, written and spoken, about the Reiners’ desperately sad deaths. But the contrast to Trump’s chosen path in life and that of the Reiners could not be more  stark.

I am not breaking new ground in describing Trump as a broken human being, devoid of empathy, a man whose malignant narcissism knows no bounds. “How do they, or does this, affect me?” is his only measure of any person or event. He has spent his entire life tearing down others, name-calling, insulting, denigrating. We know there is no bottom with him. There is no depth he will reach where his degradation of others stops. His soul is an abyss.

The Reiners didn’t search out approval for their many kindnesses. It is who they were, from the inside out. They knew what we all know: That doing good for others makes us feel good, too. That being kind and generous and unselfish is the most fulfilling way to live. That building others up also builds up our own lives.

It is a way of living that Donald Trump will never know. Perhaps we should feel sorry for him. He is a tragic figure. But it is extremely difficult to show empathy for someone so devoted to selfishness, hatred and cruelty.

I am not a believer in the simplistic good-versus-evil storytelling that has become commonplace in our media. But in this case, the contrast could not be more stark. I want to live my life like the Reiners.