Sharing
the Human Experience
“We
all share this human experience; we're in this together and none of
us can be excluded. Can we do this openly, honestly and sincerely,
without shame or fear? When the secrets all are told, we discover
there never was anything that needed to be hidden. Awareness, truth,
love and even God do not depend on anything. May you know the peace
that depends on nothing.”
Scott
Morrison (Open and Innocent)
I
followed the events in Boston all day yesterday and until the
marathon bombing suspect was apprehended last night. What an ordeal
for everyone involved. What an extraordinary effort on part of
police, FBI, and it seemed the swat teams of the entire world. The
cooperation of citizens was most impressive; they endured two
sleepless days of helicopters overhead, automatic weapons fire, and
confinement to their homes. Dark clad men in riot gear ran through
suburban neighborhoods with weapons drawn. There was no peace in
Watertown.
During
the long day, I wondered what on Earth could make a teenager, who,
until now, had a pretty good life—friends, family, educational
opportunities—choose to throw it all away by blowing up innocent
people. I watched interviews with his father, uncle and aunt and
thought, these are just ordinary people; they could be my neighbor or
friend. They must be reeling from the shock, grief and shame at
having family members the focus of such a man-hunt. I tried to
imagine how I would feel were it my sons.
Too
often in America, people feel disenfranchised—they feel cut off
from the privilege and plenty of the elite. So many people come to
this country hoping for a better life, hoping to strike it rich and
live the life they see portrayed in film and TV, not realizing that
that life is fantasy for ninety-nine percent of us. When we place
responsibility for our peace and prosperity outside ourselves, we can
become bitter, angry. Perhaps that is what caused the Tsarnaev
brothers to strike out at people they didn't even know.
We
all share the human experience of the past week—from the terror in
Boston to the explosion in Texas, from the flooding in the mid-west
to the tornadoes in the south. We are in this together. The cheering
of the Watertown residents for the police and other security officers
last night, exhausted as they must have been, reminded me of the
resilience of the human spirit. We are strange, and wonderful, and
terrible creatures—capable of incredible good and devastating harm.
Let us pray that the next week will be one of peace.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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