Re: Better than Monday morning?

From: Rhonda McDonnell (rhonda_mcdonnell@HOTMAIL.COM)
Date: Wed Sep 12 2001 - 00:37:00 EDT


>From: Joseph Cimino <evopsych@HOTMAIL.COM>

>What are you going to DO about it?
>
I'd guess that, like you, most of us are doing all we can, not just today,
but tomorrow, the next day, and all the days after that. But to not use this
time for examination, reflection, and a bit of philosophy, along with the
action, is to ignore how and why this may have happened, how and why we
react to it as we do, and how and why it will certainly, some day, happen
again. To merely act is as detrimental as to merely vocalize.

Here's a bit to mull over--

In EITHER/OR, Kierkegaard writes: A fire broke out in a theatre. The clown
came out to warn the public; they thought it was a joke and applauded. He
repeated it; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world
will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke.

    By 2:00 this afternoon, I was hearing my students debate the technical
attributes of different bits of footage they'd seen. The "best" footage was
the closeup of the plane hitting the WTC and some home video of someone
jumping from a window. They had lost sight of the loss of real human life.
Part of what I did today was to remind them that behind the images, behind
the rhetoric, behind the trumpeted headlines, an untold number of flesh and
blood people have been lost forever. The impact of that can never be
measured. Their laughter stopped, and a few teared up. On a day like today,
I found the tears more appropriate.

Here in Phoenix, the blood banks sent out a request in the afternoon that
people come tomorrow. The lines were so long that people were being turned
away. So today I gave my best to my students, tomorrow I give my blood for
the injured. The day after I'll do what I can.

In friendship,

Rhonda

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