They don't resemble one another even if you paint them!
They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing
mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly extinct, others
are incompatible with one another, and in matters of religious
beliefs, not even God can count how many they are.
Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people
into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the
White House, the army, the secret services that they are only
a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts.
Nobody rushed on the streets nearby to gape about.
The Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping
hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised the flag
on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the
colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and
cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or the
president was passing. On every occasion they started singing
their traditional song: "God Bless America!".
Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on
Saturday once, twice, three times, on different TV channels.
There were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia
Roberts, Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen,
Sylvester Stalone, James Wood, and many others whom no film
or producers could ever bring together. The American's solidarity
spirit turned them into a choir. Actually, choir is not the word.
What you could hear was the heavy artillery of the American soul.
What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill Clinton, nor Colin Powell
could say without facing the risk of stumbling over words and
sounds, was being heard in a great and unmistakable way in this
charity concert. I don't know how it happened that all this
obsessive singing of America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or
ostentatious! It made you green with envy because you weren't
able to sing for your country without running the risk of being
considered chauvinist, ridiculous, or suspected of who-knows-what
mean interests.
I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its rerun for hours
listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred
floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she
was, or of the Californian hockey player, who fought with the
terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that would
have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth
were they able to bow before a fellow human?
Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of
some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every
phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection
aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which
nothing can buy.
What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their
land? Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I
tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring
phrases which risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought
things over, but I reached only one conclusion.
ONLY FREEDOM CAN WORK SUCH MIRACLES!
Marilyn's Hideaway ~
Cancer Site ~
Children ~
Computers
Critters ~
Domestic Violence ~
Good Old Days ~
Holidays
Humor ~
Inspirationals ~
Katrina ~
Miscellaneous
Patriotic ~
Poetry ~
Women ~
Norma Marek's Poetry
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