Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Facing evil, we cling to daily round

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Brooks Peterson

Monday, October 1, 2001
Facing evil, we cling to daily round

It would take superhuman powers of denial to minimize the magnitude of what has happened to us as a people in the days since Sept. 11. As you read this, not quite three weeks will have passed since fanatics driven by hatred of an incomprehensible intensity piloted two jetliners into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon.
   Particularly for those of us who were far from these venues, there is still a surreal quality to it all.
   Yes, it happened, God help us all. Of course it happened. Yet could it have happened, really? In 21st century America, with our victory in the Cold War secure, were we not the masters of the universe? Hadn't one historian been sufficiently impressed by this to announce (in a best-selling book) that we had witnessed "The End of History"?
   Among many other things, the horror of Sept. 11 put paid to such thinking. We, a people not immune to complacency and arrogance, have been brought face to face with our own terrible vulnerability.
   So how are we to cope? Obviously, a lot of that rests with the men and women who lead us. Now they must lead - and inspire, and energize - as never before. They must give us heart, they must lead us to accept, finally, a challenge whose very existence we have long refused to acknowledge. With his address to Congress, President George W. Bush did a magnificent job of beginning the job. He, his Cabinet and his advisers, Congress, the armed forces and government at all levels are moving forward steadily. The nation is, at least for the time being, unified behind its leadership (though that could change at any moment).
   In due course, brave, superblytrained and highly motivated young people will put their lives on the line, venturing into alien terrain to turn policies, goals and objectives into on-the-ground realities. We are all in harm's way, but none more than they.
   And what of the rest of us, with our daily rounds to complete, our suddenly diminished agendas to pursue? What are we to do? We fly our flags - and why shouldn't we? We call, or write, or e-mail relatives and friends we haven't seen in months or even years. As the seams of our world unravel, we try through such gestures to help bind them together again.
   We in Corpus Christi feed the firefighters' boots at busy intersections, over and over again: When we remember the firefighters and police officers who plunged unhesitatingly into the dust, debris and horror of the World Trade Center, how are we not going to dig into the wallet or purse one more time?
   And, of course, we keep on with our lives. That is no small thing: For us to sink into terror, hopelessness and - worst of all - hatred of The Other would hand the terrorists their greatest victory.
   So we press on, and the unheroic, utterly mundane victories and setbacks of our daily round become just that little bit more important.
   Enlightenment
   Case in point: We lost power at the house Thursday afternoon. So we persuaded an electrician to pay us an after-hours visit: Gently, he explains: You got your one leg (cable) that's hot, and your one leg (cable) that's not. You need to call the power company.
   So we call the power company, and, as the shadows lengthen, a couple of really pleasant, competent guys come out and spend, oh, three or four hours sorting the thing out and devising a fix.
   In the meantime, we're lighting every candle we can find, trying to keep the dogs from going totally nuts, and, just by the way, drilling the high school junior for her bio and English exams, seeing to Homecoming mums . . .
   We made it. The power's on; the dogs are sleeping the sleep of the just (dreaming of repairmen's ankles); and a new dawn awaits.
   This is not epic stuff. But in its way it is crucial. At a time of terrible uncertainty, this is a small but crucial strand in the social fabric: If the center is to hold, we must each do our part to keep the thing together. All our little strivings and modest victories are part of an infinitely precious whole. To preserve it, we keep on keeping on.

   Brooks Peterson can be reached by phone at 886-3772, or by e-mail at petersonb@caller.com.


Brooks Peterson can be reached by phone at 886-3772, or by e-mail at petersonb@caller.com

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