"It is so good to see you out here," said a 70 ish woman from her car, as she lowered her passenger window and leaned forward to speak. "I've often thought of coming out here to join you.
"I'm on my way to choir practice but one of these times I will join you. What's happening there [Iraq] is tragic."
She is right. Yesterday, several car bombs ripped through Iraq killing 20 Iraqis and injuring 84 more. In central Baghdad at 7 am in a crowded market a car exploded with enormous force leveling everything near it.
When the gray acidic smoke cleared, 15 people lay dead, some of them little more than burning body parts, and nearly 50 more were rushed to hospitals. Imagine how their families felt when they got the horrific news.
A little later, another car bomb nearby was detonated blowing everything apart. Two people lay dead. And in the afternoon in eastern Baghdad, a third car bomb exploded severely wounding seven more people. That night a bomb blast in a Baghdad restaurant injured eight others.
In Mosul, a roadside bomb killed an 11 year old and injured two more people and later another nearby explosion injured others. The violence is growing and no amount of U.S. or Iraqi military presence can control it.
But thousands of miles away, on a warm sunny night at a Los Angeles area street corner, a peaceful vigil attracted many horn honks and waves, while some people joined it.
One who joined it for a few minutes was a long time friend, a 32 year old man who said he and his wife will be having their first child seven months from now. It was wonderful news and later when I informed my wife Anne, she was filled with joy for this young couple.
After he left, a couple who occasionally joins the vigil did so, accompanied by their 3 year old daughter and 11/2 year old son, both children cute as tiny buttons, as they reclined in their large blue stroller.
This couple bubbles over with smiles and positive energy and it's always a pleasure to see them. "You may need a second sign," said the 37 ish wife in a brief serious moment in reference to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
After they had gone, the Haitian man who often joins the vigil did for a brief time. He had a headache but still wanted to come by and say hello.
"You need to add some names to your sign," said a 35 ish woman, also in reference to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"There is you and there is me and there are a small number of other people who care," said a 26 year old man who occasionally joins the vigil and did so last night for the final 20 minutes.
"There are so many others who don't care," he added. "They greatly outnumber us. It seems hopeless."
"It may seem that way," I replied. "But we can't even start to measure all the ways in which we touch people by coming out here or by taking other actions."
We reach people one by one and just then as if on cue to illustrate the point, a driver honked a horn in support. It was a nice way to conclude the vigil.
Dick
No comments:
Post a Comment