“Love is a selfless service to mankind like a showcase done by the twinkling stars in beautiful nightly sky.”
The sun is on hiatus again. The sky is white cloudy and it’s chilly, not cold. The birds are busy at the feeders, and the chipmunk is somewhere else. Gracie has been in the yard most of the morning. Every now and then she barks and then comes in to check on me then goes back outside. She loves the yard.
Every morning since Monday I have turned on the TV just to check for any news about the bombing. If there is nothing, I turn off the TV, but this morning’s news has me intently watching what is happening. It didn’t take long from yesterday’s briefing by the FBI which showed the pictures of the two bombers, brothers, for them to be identified. A comment the other day was that this isn’t a CSI case and don’t expect an instant ending, a quick solving of the crime, but it does feel quick, only three days to identify the bombers. One has been killed, and the other is the subject of a manhunt the likes of which this state has never seen.
I have traveled many parts of the world and been treated with kindness and sometimes even concern. When I lived in Ghana, I had my pocket picked, was the victim of an attempted purse snatching (during training and during my first weekend in Accra) and had my house broken into, but I was never afraid for myself. Even the purse snatching was a bit of adventure as the snatcher and I fought over the bag, each of us pulling a handle. That incident didn’t stop me from continuing training and taking my oath as a volunteer. It just became a story to tell.
Once on a train from Denmark to the Hook of Holland, our train-mate fed us, my friend and me, the whole trip from a huge basket she had packed for the ride. She was an East German heading home to England and her husband, an Englishman. The food was amazing, and, like the loaves and the fishes, the basket never went empty. In Morocco, I’d get tired and my back would hurt so I’d stop and stand for a while. Each time I did, someone offered me a seat, and I always took it and sat and watched the world around me. They’d tell me to stay as long I needed to sit. Once I even got coffee, strong Moroccan coffee, in a small cup.
In South America, my travel mate and I were quite often the only non locals on a bus or train. At every stop someone would tell us where we were, and when we stopped for dinner on the night bus, the whole menu was translated for us by another passenger. In Columbia, in the salt mine, I asked how the blackened salt was turned white. A man heard my question and invited my friend and me to see the factory down the road where he worked. We were given hard hats and a complete tour of the factory. I remember the taste of salt in my mouth stayed for what seemed liked forever.
After my second surgery, I got on the bus and immediately the man in the front seat stood up and said take my seat. You shouldn’t have to walk.
I am not naive just because I believe in the innate goodness of most people, their willingness to help, even their eagerness to help, but goodness doesn’t usually make headlines and small stories like mine are seldom told, but good heartedness is not rare. It is all around us. We just have to look.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: innate goodness of people, kindness, Morocco
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April 19, 2013 at 12:12 pm
Amen.
April 19, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Ditto, sprite
April 19, 2013 at 12:53 pm
and this is why i am a Coffeeholic.
thank you.
April 19, 2013 at 1:00 pm
I am thankful for you as well, Greg!
April 19, 2013 at 12:54 pm
I’ve followed this via my mobile phone and I’ll check the news as soon as I’m finished here. I got a bit surprised when I found out their nationality! I would have guessed right wing extremist from the US or someone from an the middle east but not Chechnya.
I have also only been met with kindness, well except for Paris but what else to expect 🙂 🙂 🙂 When I traveled in Portugal with.my friend that spoke Portuguese and they understood that I didn’t they changed language to something I could, mostly English.
It’s always fun to travel with people from the US, they are b´never afraid of talking with strangers 🙂 I don’t know how many times Americans have saved a boring journey especially on night trains when there’s nothing to see outside 🙂
The storm last night was furious but it calmed down this afternoon, now it rains instead but we’ll get nice and sunny weather tomorrow they say 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 19, 2013 at 1:18 pm
Christer,
I guessed homegrown terrorists and am totally surprised they are from Chechnya. I can’t think of a reason for what they chose to do.
We got help all over Europe and people who didn’t speak English sometimes drew pictures to help us.
My father used to say I’ll talk with anyone, and he’s right. When we traveled, I met all sorts of people, some you’d talk first to me and some to whom I’d speak.
It rained for just a few minutes a bit earlier.
April 19, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Hi Kat,
What’s that line? I have alway relied on the kindness of strangers.
I’m at the saturation point with this story, though. There isn’t any new news. The statements from the relatives are pitiful and I wish someone would tell them they should not make them because they really don’t know any more than the rest of us.
My niece is at UMass Dartmouth which has been evacuated because the kid is registered there. Maybe there are explosives in his dorm.
The newspeople are going hyper with their narratives but they have nothing new to say. They’re just filling the airwaves with noise.
All these law enforcement people are out there trying to “keep this town, this state, this country safe from this terrorist” who is out to kill us all. No question he was killing people. But most likely he’s holed up in a cellar somewhere trying not to bleed to death. Like a rat gone to ground.
It was sunny this morning. Now it’s cloudy, windy and kind of humid; a foretaste of summer? I think I need to take another therapeutic ride in the jeep with my dog. 🙂
Enjoy the day.
April 19, 2013 at 1:33 pm
Hi Caryn,
That is exactly the line.
I just don’t get it. Both attended colleges and have been here a while. I wonder what triggered them.
Just as you say, no new information, but I’m thinking I wouldn’t want to miss anything new as it could happen in a minute.
I didn’t hear he had been wounded. That one I missed, but you’re right, he could be anywhere which is why the police are going door to door.
We had a few minutes of rain earlier but the day has settled into being cloudy and damp. I’m waiting for UPS as American Express has sent a new card overnight because I had a fraudulent charge they turned down then checked with me. It was from Walmart. Good job AmEx. Once that comes, I do have an errand so Gracie and I will head out later.
April 19, 2013 at 1:55 pm
No one has said the younger one was wounded. That’s my vision. Given all the gun fire that went on and the very large pool of fresh blood that was seen nearby, apparently unrelated the victims of the shooting, it’s an easy assumption to make. He’s wounded and holed up somewhere.
I think you have to say that line with a Blanche DuBois voice. 🙂
Oh, God, there’s another relative talking. Someone needs to tell them to stop or get a PR person to speak for them. They are not making it better.
April 19, 2013 at 2:02 pm
Definitely a Blanch DuBois accent and flourish!
I didn’t hear about the blood. He was able to steal a car, run over his dead brother and take off. All accounts about this kid were complimentary. Everyone is surprised. He even became a citizen. I suspect it was his brother who proselytized the kid as the older brother went to Russia for a few months.
April 19, 2013 at 5:28 pm
I am not surprised that they are from Chechnya because they have been committing terrorist acts of violence in Russia in their fight for Independance. Chechnya is one of the Muslem majority republics in Russia.
Why they would commit these acts in Boston makes no sense because we have nothing to do with or have influence on Russia to grant Chechnya Independance.
Good people are everywhere and come in all flavors. Unfortunately, there are bad apples also everywhere and they get the headlines.
April 19, 2013 at 7:48 pm
Bob,
I remember all those people and children killed in the school/gym and in the movie theater. Like you, I can’t understand why this was brought to the US. There is no history between us.
It’s true about the bad apples, but I’ll stick with the good ones, publicity or not.
April 19, 2013 at 6:05 pm
If in love you help another bear their burdens and someone else is helping you bear yours, all our weight is measured less in toto.
In the end, there is only love.
April 19, 2013 at 7:49 pm
Beto,
I remember in a philosophy class in college where the professor told us that people needn’t be aware when we do them good. It is the doing good which is the necessary part.
April 19, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Yes, that is true. Sometimes though you must show people that they are loved and that there are people who want to help. But in your circumstance..
I had some neighbors who partied really hard on a long past New Years Eve and I was up most of the night from the noise. I’m an early riser regardless of sleep so I started cleaning up the common yard at sunrise and their door was open so I cleaned their house while they slept it off. They were totally freaked out when they woke up. Ha!
April 19, 2013 at 10:29 pm
Beto,
Sometimes you just need to show some kindness which is love as well. Your cleaning the house was what I was talking about-showing people love and kindness without them even knowing. I think that it is the highest of all, giving without taking credit. You seem to know that already!