Author:
The Mage
[ Edit | View ]
|
Date Posted: 19:47:53 04/16/13 Tue
Thanks Wes for putting words to our feelings. You expressed just what, I'm sure, many of us feel!
I had another routine column for the paper already
>written before the Boston Marathon bombing Monday, but
>this morning I thought it would be better to address
>current events. Even though this column is written to
>a local audience, I think it carries thoughts for us
>all.
>
>-- Wes
>
>------------------------
>
>
>I just watched part of the Tuesday morning news
>conference in Boston regarding the bombing at the
>finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday. It’s
>pretty clear to me that no one in authority knows
>anything yet about the perpetrator of the bombing, or
>their motives, and I refuse to speculate about it.
>
>But I do have to note one thing I noticed in the many
>replays of the incident I’ve seen on television: when
>the bombs went off and people were hurt and dying,
>there were a great many people who turned to help the
>injured in any way they could. It struck me as being
>similar to white blood cells racing to the scene of an
>infection.
>
>It seems likely that many people in the end will wind
>up owning their lives to the selfless acts of others
>-- emergency personnel, security personnel, of course,
>but bystanders, fans, and even competitors.
>
>Back at the time of the World Trade Center, I made the
>comment that it had been a great act of terror -- but
>that it was overshadowed by the thousands of acts of
>kindness and heroism. The same thing holds true for
>what happened in Boston on Monday.
>
>We in Hudson are a long way from Boston and the Boston
>Marathon. Yet, there are several people in this
>community who have run in that event in years past, so
>there is some degree of connection between here and
>there. We at the the paper have been able to share the
>joy of our fellow citizens of the community at
>participating in the event, where even finishing is a
>great personal victory.
>
>While such violent acts as Monday’s, whatever the
>motives may be, are fortunately rare disasters of many
>natures occur, often without much warning. I remember
>well the Palm Sunday tornado, now almost fifty years
>in the past, but it still carries a lesson for us
>today.
>
>On that terrible night there were plenty of emergency
>personnel responding to the scene, and they had much
>to respond to. But one of the overwhelming images I
>remember from the night following the storm was the
>sound of chainsaws filling the air as local residents
>hurried to open roads so emergency personnel could do
>their job. No one asked them to get out in the middle
>of that tragedy -- it was a need that many people
>recognized, and they filled the need whether they’d
>been asked or not.
>
>One of the enduring blessings of our society is that
>people really do help out, without being asked, when
>they perceive a need.
>
>We have not yet heard the last of this tragedy. We
>will no doubt hear much more about it in the months to
>come. Enough police and investigators from several
>different agencies to staff an army of a small country
>are probing into the incident, and it seems likely
>that they will get to the bottom of this in good order.
>
>But I would hope that in the times to come when there
>will be news story after news story about what
>happened Monday in Boston, that the simple heroics and
>desire to help their fellow man displayed by so many
>on the streets of Boston will not be forgotten.
>
>The lives lost, the injuries sustained on Monday are
>indeed tragic. But it’s my hope that the events will
>not break the spirits of anyone in Boston or around
>the country. If the acts of courage of many near the
>scene of the Monday’s explosions are any indication,
>there still seems to be a lot of spirit left in
>people. I do not want to consider what would happen if
>we to lose this spirit of being willing to extend our
>hand to our fellow man in time of need.
|
Feedback: 