This is not a political blog. And it never will be. But I can't go on posting without first acknowledging what happened in Connecticut last Friday, because I am also the mother of a 6-year-old in first grade.
Last Sunday at church I let her snuggle into my lap and nestle her head against my neck, although I would usually make her sit on her own and tell her she's a "big girl." Last Sunday I was reminded just how little a 6-year-old is, and I wanted an excuse to hold her while I thanked God for our daughters.
There are few things that touch a nerve in a country as large and diverse as this. But this event has, and we will react, because some things can't pass with no more than a national shrug. At first we were speechless, but now the talking has begun. And we will talk and talk and talk, which is a good thing, because America has so many voices.
I've been reading the international as well as national press, as I usually do, but I've had to stop, because the international coverage just doesn't understand America. In particular, it doesn't understand the multiplicity of America. It doesn't understand the necessary and very natural differences between Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii and Texas. Much of the international press oversimplifies and underestimates this vast and varied country. A firm, one-sided quip about "the United States" is probably wrong somewhere.
This country's extreme diversity is a challenge, but it's beautiful. It's what I missed the most when we were in Europe and what we found again in the little out-of-town cinder block church we now attend, where the Knights of Columbus sling huge hotcakes and big bowls of menudo after Mass. (I eat the hotcakes, Alan loves the menudo.)
When we were at All Saints Mass in October, Father T. drifted back and forth between Spanish and English, because there was only one service that day. He gave the homily in English and then summarized in Spanish. Laurel said to me, "I don't understand what he's saying. I don't understand Spanish."
It's true. We don't always understand each other. But I told her, "It's OK. We can still listen."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thanks, Heather. You are so well spoken and it's always good to listen to what you write.
I think of you and your girls often. At first I couldn't process what had happened. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. Then after the shock came the tears. Lots and lots of tears.
I thank you for posting what you did. You are so well spoken as Uncle Jerry said...Now is the time for the great discussion. And we will talk about it. You can count on it.
Post a Comment