Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Mon, Sep 06 2004
Who Can Think About Labor With All This Going On?
There have been a lot of wild things going on this Labor Day weekend, not the least of which has been the misery from Hurricane Frances. The storm battered the Bahamas before it sat off the coast of Florida, and then it finally moved through the state. Now everyone is hoping it won't gather strength in the warm gulf waters.
As if Japan's two major earthquakes weren't bad enough, coastal residents were also put on tsunami alert as a result of the shakings.
California's wildfires are nothing new, some might say, but the fires caused Pacific Gas and Electric to reroute electricity on days during a heat wave where temperatures were already approaching three digits and putting a strain on power.
These and other events that have sent rescue workers, volunteers and just plain neighbors and kind people to help. Even when things go wrong, it's great to see people easing suffering and helping others cope during trouble.
In the last few days, the North Ossetian tragedy in Russia has affected me deeply, because it was entirely preventable. The other events I mention here brought out the best of humanity, but the ruthless cruelty to those children in Beslan was sparked by the very worst of humanity. The terrorists are directly responsible for some 300 deaths, and their acts will gain no sympathy for their cause. In the long run, this may ruin their chances of ever getting anything they want. When a group makes it clear that all other people, and especially children, are merely pawns to be used to prove their own superiority, they have fairly well already lost, and have proved themselves, no superior, but raving maniacs with no sense of direction or purpose. Oh, they might manage to kill more people and cause more destruction, but there comes a point when the rest of the planet's inhabitants will stop being just afraid of them, and fear to anger. Unfortunately, when that happens, a lot of people will be mistaken for terrorists and there will be more innocent blood shed. Will the rest of us become like those we are angry at right now? If we do, not only have they lost, but we've lost. Sometimes I envision God finally deciding to step in like the mom who sees her kids fighting, and tells them, "I don't care who started it. I'm putting a stop to it right now."
posted at: 06:56 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
There have been a lot of wild things going on this Labor Day weekend, not the least of which has been the misery from Hurricane Frances. The storm battered the Bahamas before it sat off the coast of Florida, and then it finally moved through the state. Now everyone is hoping it won't gather strength in the warm gulf waters.
As if Japan's two major earthquakes weren't bad enough, coastal residents were also put on tsunami alert as a result of the shakings.
California's wildfires are nothing new, some might say, but the fires caused Pacific Gas and Electric to reroute electricity on days during a heat wave where temperatures were already approaching three digits and putting a strain on power.
These and other events that have sent rescue workers, volunteers and just plain neighbors and kind people to help. Even when things go wrong, it's great to see people easing suffering and helping others cope during trouble.
In the last few days, the North Ossetian tragedy in Russia has affected me deeply, because it was entirely preventable. The other events I mention here brought out the best of humanity, but the ruthless cruelty to those children in Beslan was sparked by the very worst of humanity. The terrorists are directly responsible for some 300 deaths, and their acts will gain no sympathy for their cause. In the long run, this may ruin their chances of ever getting anything they want. When a group makes it clear that all other people, and especially children, are merely pawns to be used to prove their own superiority, they have fairly well already lost, and have proved themselves, no superior, but raving maniacs with no sense of direction or purpose. Oh, they might manage to kill more people and cause more destruction, but there comes a point when the rest of the planet's inhabitants will stop being just afraid of them, and fear to anger. Unfortunately, when that happens, a lot of people will be mistaken for terrorists and there will be more innocent blood shed. Will the rest of us become like those we are angry at right now? If we do, not only have they lost, but we've lost. Sometimes I envision God finally deciding to step in like the mom who sees her kids fighting, and tells them, "I don't care who started it. I'm putting a stop to it right now."
posted at: 06:56 | category: /Miscellaneous | link to this entry
