Repairing the Universe

We are all fitfully stirred into action:
To break down the barrier between us and others,
To throw out a lifeline, to dirty our nails,
To take a slight risk, to rescue a stranger;
It may unsettle our placid existence, calling for efforts
Exceeding the routine, and then friends may mutter:
"It's not in your interest,
It's not what one normally, consciously does."
And yet these exceptions should be and are commonplace,
Otherwise, "hope" as a concept is lost,
Empathy dies outside of our fictions,
And "we" as a unified sphere fall apart.