In general society, we notice over-reaction and under-reaction to the conduct of mankind to this or that event, suggestion, or appeal, whether affirmative or negative. For example: on the horrendous attack on the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, three thousand persons lost their lives. It might have been much worse if more complete planning had been done by the terrorists. The stories of heroism, especially by firefighters and police, were emotionally moving for the citizenry in the city, and through the worldwide media. Individual tragedies drew the tears of empathetic persons everywhere.
An army of persons, professionals and pedestrians, went to work to aid the families who lost loved ones in an unspeakable context of suffering. Taking personal suffering alone for discussion, there was the considered conclusion that one in three survivors, with relatives and friends would need professional counseling including medical attention. They would experience inevitable grief and disorientation. Professionals went to work. Funding was no issue. Numerous professionals volunteered to help.
This Page is being written a decade after the event. Ground Zero where the Towers once stood continues to be cause for debate, even ill feeling, about how it ought to be used or signified. A vast fortune has already been spent on it. A Mosque site close by has been challenged heatedly as inappropriate in location, perhaps inviting retribution from troubled citizens who identify terrorists with the larger Islamic society. Costs, emotions, tensions, contributed to delays. The matter is exacerbated in that the chance drawing from thousands for memorial was authored by an Islamic person. Differences are being defused.
Studies now show that about ten percent (not an announced 35%) of the survivors needed some kind of assistance in counsel or aid. The 90% are labeled resilient. They moved on with their lives. Even the professional help was sometimes reduced in results. Some of the mourners said the assistance exacerbated their loss. These suffering found their grief extended, perhaps intensified, by the aid they received.
Issues of this tragedy are representative of tragedies mankind faces daily. We may miss perspective on the larger context. Life has larger tragedies than the immediate dramatic ones. We lose truth. The Wild West in the late 1800s lost about two or so persons a season in illegal violence. Our children are partly mesmerized by the odd and distorted stories of the Earps and Clantons at the OK Corral, and the homeless Billy the Kid. Persons, yes, but with myths made larger than facts. There were more murders per capita in the settled Eastern states than in the wild west. In a month or so the good people of the American society kill as many Americans on the highways as were lost at Ground Zero in 2001. Grief and cost are greater in suffering for those who live daily local loss. In a few months more persons die on American highways than have been killed on both sides in the Afghan war which, at this writing, is more than ten years old for the United States. What would happen to us if these stories of domestic and premature death were detailed in the international media? The massive news production might cast nations into gloom. However, better reporting might focus on the larger context of sorrow and solutions. With muffled drama, our daily life is marked by sometimes deadly conduct: in the amount of food eaten, and of the wrong kind; in the habits we follow that depreciate life and values (alcoholism); and, in the evasion of truth about life. Greatest loss is the omission of responsibility and discipline that would give us a life of peace and service for good. Jesus appealed to the individual for a life that would carry ultimate victory. What will mankind ever do to recognize the miracle of life that does its best in tranquility, in peace, in relationships, in recognition that lasting greatness is in the beauty of holiness? Life is God’s main gift to mankind. Persons are at their best when they live responsibly in preparation for the crowning of immortal life. All this takes some doing. We are called to orderly life, which may not appear to be dramatic. There is balance for Christian life that is not found in cavalier attitudes and irresponsibility. Creative acceptance of life duty will find peace. It sometimes shows up in ordinary life. We need daily routine in values. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020