Just Maybe...

It's the day after the Boston Marathon bombs.
We seem to be having a lot of these days after.
And we're getting a little too good at responding to disasters...
Because we keep having disasters and we have no choice but to respond.
But I've noticed that our responses are getting a little more polished, we are beginning to realize what's really important.  Yesterday, in addition to prayers for the victims there were lots of prayers for the first response personnel.  This is good, but it's not a thing that people thought about before 9-11-2001.  Believe me, I think we should pray for the people who rush into the breach to help people a lot more than we do, what struck me yesterday was how quickly that became a part of the public sentiment.
We are learning more than we really want to know about catastrophe.
I shared a quote from Mr. Rogers on facebook yesterday (yeah, I was one of about a million people who shared the same thing in one way or another) that was about what his mother told him to do whenever evil seemed out of control: "Look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping."
Which turns out to be very true...
I remember growing up in a world where they always told you that people didn't want to get involved.  I remember hearing that women should yell, "fire" instead of "rape" because people will respond if they think there's a fire and will just ignore someone being violated sexually.
Some people will look at things like 9-11 or Columbine or Newtown or Boston and say: "Look how terrible the world has become!"  But sometimes I wonder if all of these calamities are proving that we're NOT actually as bad as we thought.
Which is weird, and a little twisted, but it might be true.
What if it takes acts of terrorism to glue us together?
What if it takes natural disasters to get people to act like neighbors?
I know enough about history to know that calamities and catastrophes are nothing new.  There will always be wars and rumors of wars.
That is not an excuse or a call to accept the evil.
It is an observation that our communities tend to show their strength in adversity.
Fire hardens steel.
We are at our best when the deck is stacked against us, we stand tall under the rocket's red glare.
We lose our way when there is no challenge.
We grow lazy and soft when prosperity lulls us to sleep.
Maybe it's not just an American thing...
Maybe the same is true of individuals...
Maybe it is true of small communities...
Maybe it is true of churches...
Maybe it is true of nations...
Maybe it's a human thing...
Maybe we are wired to fight the power...
Maybe it is the rocket's red glare and the bomb blast that brings out the best in us...
Maybe it is the life of comfort and ease that inspires selfishness and sloth...
Maybe without the worst in us rearing it's ugly head once in a while, we would never get to see the response from the best in us...