ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Culture challenge of the week: Cruel carnage
Like millions of Americans across the country, I watched in horror as our televisions captured the cruel carnage caused by terrorists’ bombs at the Boston Marathon. As a nation, we were horrified by the sudden blast of death and destruction at the hands of then-unknown enemies.
“I’ve never seen anything like [it],” said one runner a surgeon as he described the trauma, the bloody limbs, the suffering at the scene.
Terrorism disorients us, creates confusion and sows fear not only among those caught in the midst of the turmoil but also among those watching, helpless, from miles away. The bloody scenes on Boylston Street, like the fiery images of the twin towers more than a decade ago, have been seared into our memories. And the future has been changed forever for the families whose loved ones were maimed or killed.
We’re left with two takeaways: First, evil is alive and roaming our world. It never goes away, it just changes shape, location and victims. Evil leaves us reeling, but it must not win.
That’s the message our children need to hear.
One mother I know pleaded with the mothers of her child’s classmates. “Please tell your child not to say anything in school about the bombings,” she said. She did not want her young daughter to know that evil like this existed. I don’t know if she will be able to shield her daughter from news of this magnitude. I suspect not.
Certainly we can and should spare our children from graphic, violent images of those stories, but our children need us to provide perspective, context, comfort and safety in the wake of these awful events. They need to voice their fears, ask questions and be hugged.
Most of all, they need to be reassured by your love.
And that leads me to our second takeaway: that “love is more powerful than death” (Song of Solomon 8). Even in the midst of terrible suffering, love abides.
How to save your family: Be a patriot
Love is what impels ordinary human beings to save others in spite of great risk to themselves. The heroes that emerged from this tragedy on Patriots’ Day are inspiring.
A Massachusetts celebration, the holiday recalls our country’s first battles for freedom, in the towns of Lexington and Concord. As the British marched to do battle with the Colonists, brave men put their lives on the line. They warned fellow patriots about the impending attack and raised their muskets in the fight for freedom. Surely they fought their own inner enemy fear as they faced the human enemy in front of them. But their patriotism love for freedom and countrymen made them stand fast.
Our heroes in this terrible bombing did the same. What is it that makes some men and women turn and run toward not away from danger? Courage, yes. But also love. Many runners and spectators, in addition to Boston’s fine police force and medical personnel, responded instantly to the cries of their fellow human beings. They frantically worked to save lives, even when the threat of subsequent bombings hung heavy in the air. Many fought to preserve life with the only tools they had on hand: belts and shirts that they twisted into life-saving tourniquets. Their hearts, driven by compassion, overcame fear.
The surgeon-runner who raced into the bloody scene reacted for a second time with the same words: “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Only this time he was talking about the “first responders and volunteer physicians” and the “quickness” of their response to the bombings.
Courageous love doesn’t dither around, weighing the costs of sacrifice. It simply does the right thing.
Each of us, in our own ways, must be patriots as well. Keep your eyes open and wits about you. Be willing to act instantly when needed. And pray for the victims, the injured, their medical teams, and for our investigators and security forces as well.
Don’t forget: Love is more powerful than death.
• Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at rebecca@howtosaveyourfamily.com.
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