Tragedy: It brought out best of our humanity -- and the worse

[pat_k]

Tragedy can open hearts to the suffering of others and bring out the best of our humanity.

Or it can bring out an ugly side. We see the ugliest from the paranoid cowards occupying the White House. (Only a coward blusters and cowers, driven by their paranoid fear into coercing others to commit unspeakable crimes.)

Some Americans latched onto the attack on the towers and made it the center of their patrionics. To them, the victims are abstractions. They appear to have little compassion or conception of what those affected actually face. Selfishness, fear, and hatred lie behind their obsessive nationalism. At the extreme are people like Ann Coulter.

Our best impulses are expressed in quiet ways.

The ugly side is loud and incessant. It can drown out the quiet goodness.

We must look for the quiet goodness, or fall victim to cynicism..

People woven into the fabric or our lives were ripped out. The horror of violent death compounds the pain. We feel helpless in the face of the suffering of the bereaved, the suffering of the people haunted by horrible images -- those who escaped and those who dealt with the aftermath. We offer what comfort and help we can. We are thankful to witness the healing that comes with time.

We can look for, and be grateful to see the people who have turned their pain into action -- people like Kristen Breitweiser who confronted members of Congress and fought for the needs of the victims, and who is now inspiring others to push for solutions to the many other problems we face as a nation.