After the moment of silence at Wednesday night’s Bruins’ game, after Rene Rancourt started singing The National Anthem, this happened:
The other day, L & I were talking about the post-Boston Marathon media coverage. By now we all know that:
- ordinary people ran towards the explosion to help
- marathoners kept running to hospitals to donate blood
- Bostonians offered their homes for people who needed accommodations
- people are continuing to live their lives as best they can
Reporters and locals have occasionally responded by saying things like:
- “This is what makes us Americans.”
- “This is what we do in the United States.”
- “We are unlike any other country.”
L. and I wondered if, after people in other countries keep going after tragedies, they say things like:
- “This is what makes us Indonesians.”
- “This is what we do in Afghanistan.“
- “We are unlike any other country.”
What makes the moment in the video beautiful is not that it is uniquely American to be patriotic or compassionate or generous. These are the things that make us human. This is what human beings do. We are unlike any other species. We were created in the image of God
We live in a great country, filled with amazing human beings, who live alongside other people who are so broken that they would bomb innocent people. Just like the rest of the world.
The world is truly beautiful, thanks be to God.
A Church for Starving Artists 