So the whole Boston bombing thing. That happened. And it was horrible and scary, and watching helicopters from my window and seeing smoke plumes rise on such a beautiful day and the utter silence in which fifty of us gathered around a small television monitor for hours, unable to tear ourselves away--it was awful. Nothing damages a community as much as that kind of public violation.
And of course, I count myself as One of the Lucky. And I recognize that we can grieve and cry and hold one another but we must still understand that we as a city, as a nation, we are One of the Lucky. One bombing, in one city, with fewer fatalities than I have fingers--it's awful, but the fact that this event makes national news is remarkable and makes us very, very fortunate.
And of course, as a Bleeding-Heart Liberal with more values than a calculator, I cannot revel in the deaths of more people, regardless of their wrongdoing. And I have a lot to say about the way the ensuing manhunt was handled, which will no doubt be laid out in a post to come.
I can, however, take great pride in a city whose healing and compassion stretches above and beyond what anyone could have expected. Walking past a church on Boylston Street today, I was struck by the beauty of these ribbons. Each one has a prayer written on it--the fence was covered with them for half a block at least.
But here's the best part, are you ready?
Though it had, supposedly, been started as a response to the bombing, many of the prayers here extended beyond that--to loved ones far away, to victims of other tragedies in the US and around the world, and to total strangers, wishing simply Health and Happiness. Could anything, really, be more wonderfully representative of Human Kindness?
The answer is no, by the way. Just so we're clear.
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