God bless Robert Gordon and the members of the Dallas County Arts Alliance.

Gordon, who owns a local antique shop on Mabry Street, said he was so touched by the outpouring of grief from students at Bruce Craig Elementary over the theft and destruction of their butterfly sculpture, he wanted to do something about it.

So, Gordon contacted Steve Grossman, president of the Alliance, and they met at the Selma Police Department. Authorities allowed the two men to take the broken butterfly to Gordon’s shop, where he’ll fix it.

Prior to that, e-mails flew furiously over the Internet Thursday morning as members of the Alliance and people at large attempted to find a way to finance another butterfly for the children of Bruce Craig.

What an outpouring of consideration!

Sure, nay sayers can shake their heads all they want over “some plywood held together with glue and a bolt with some paint dashed on it.” But this is more than just a material thing.

The butterflies are representative of the spirit of Selma: Our city has many artists and artisans that bring beauty to the area; people and businesses work together like the sponsors and the artists worked on the butterflies; we take pride in our history, evidenced by the selection of the butterfly because Selma is the butterfly capital of Alabama.

This coming together; this kindness of Gordon for the children is much more than standing in front of a crowd and wringing hands in worry. It’s taking action quickly and meaningfully.

God bless Gordon and the members of the Alliance.

And, God bless those children, who’ll soon have another butterfly to paint and display.