Thirty-nine years ago on this very date, it was a critical night for the New England Patriots. They were playing the Miami Dolphins in a big “Monday Night Football” game and the score was tied at 13. But as kicker John Smith jogged onto the field at the Orange Bowl, announcer Howard Cosell delivered a message that shook the country, and then the world.

“Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses,” Cosell explained to the massive television audience. “An unspeakable tragedy, confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City. John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead on arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which in duty bound, we had to take.”

The Pats lost ugly when the kick was blocked and Miami quickly scored for the win but the consciousness of the country had already changed the channel.

Beatle John was gone. Unbelievable. Senseless. It was a gut punch to an entire generation and more.

And then people came together. A giant crowd gathered on the Upper West Side of New York City where Lennon had lived and left flowers, notes and other mementos as they sang Beatles songs.

It happened all over.

As Time Magazine reported, “In Los Angeles, more than 2,000 people joined in a candlelight vigil at Century City; in Washington, D.C., several hundred crowded the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in a ‘silent tribute’ that recalled the sit-ins of the ’60s.”

Similar events dotted the entire globe.

Strangers hugged and shared their stories and their feelings. Like so many tragedies, the awful event brought out the best in us. The gravity of the moment called on something deep within one’s humanity and manifested in outward gestures of tenderness, love and respect.

For those too young to remember the night John Lennon died, a look back on the attacks of 9/11 — albeit a far greater catastrophic and historic event — similarly illustrates the shared decency and compassion on display around the country during the days and weeks following.

There is a better version of us as Americans and it should not be stowed away and only unleashed when a loved one dies or a national tragedy unfolds. We are all equipped with the capacity to make someone’s day better or improve the life of a stranger, even just a little.

John Lennon, though philanthropic, primarily gave us the gift of his music. Few, if any of us, share his talent but we are all capable of giving a gift in some form or fashion to our fellow man.

Imagine if we reallocated the time we spent trashing each other on social media to doing a good deed or taking a thoughtful action like digging someone out of the snow or making sure someone doesn’t spend Christmas alone. We can do something good this very day. This very day.

Imagine all the people living for today?

We know what to do. We have imagined it. Now it’s time to do it.