Saturday, March 13, 2004
'We were all on that train.'
The banners carried through the streets by grieving Spaniards yesterday really do speak for us all. Terrorism assaults the basic condition of life in a community: our exposure to and vulnerability among others. As a subway rider, I don't think a day has gone by since 9/11 that the nightmare of an attack on the train I'm riding hasn't crossed my mind. And since I depend on the subway, I do my best to suppress the thought. (Oddly, I think of it more during my morning commute.) But I not only want to live in a city, I want to be with other people. So just as I say perish the thought that I might die with neighbors and strangers in a terrorist attack, I also share the compulsion to be with other people in grief. Seeing this picture in the Globe this morning brought back powerful memories of going out night after night after 9/11 to join people I didn't know in public expressions of grief and solidarity. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Spain.
Copyright © 2004 by Philocrites | Posted 13 March 2004 at 1:08 PM
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Philocrites
"Obscure and literary!" (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
Commentary by Chris Walton on Unitarian Universalism, liberal Christianity, American religion, and liberal culture. Contact me.
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1 comments:
Melanie:
March 13, 2004 03:49 PM | Permalink for this comment
Chris,
As a subway rider myself, I have been having the same reaction. When I flipped on the TV Thursday morning, the first thought in my mind was that the pictures could be of Boston or New York or DC. My second thought: we're all madrilenos now.
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