[ncte-hs] Reflecting on Horror and Hope

[Belinda Bair <bbair@ccps.org>]

Reflecting on Horror and Hope
by Belinda Bair

  Over 200 years ago, at the dawn of this republic, one of our patriots
wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls." He foresaw the dark
and difficult days of the Revolution ahead of him but he also saw great
hope. It would only need the strength and resolve of these new American
people to stand against what was then the enemy. It wasn't a time for a
"sunshine patriot" or a "summer soldier". It was instead the time for
those who loved freedom to stand and not be moved, to fight and not grow
weary.
  Now we are in a time and place that truly try our souls. We watched in
horror and disbelief Tuesday,Sept. 11 as terrorists brought their evil
to our doorstep. In the days following we were all riveted to our
televisions and radios, sharing in a common national grief and anger. We
struggle with difficult,maybe impossible, questions. What do we say to
our students? How do we help them cope with the fear and anger that
follow such incomprehensible acts? What should, or can we learn from
this awful event?
  We teachers are in a unique position. We truly must teach our young
people how to cope with the unimaginable and imagine a future far
different than the one they knew only a few days ago. And it must be a
future that sees beyond the smoke and haze of destroyed lives and
buildings. It must see a  clear path to freedom from fear and freedom
from hate.
  We must not feed that fear or hate. We must instead, find ways to
express our feelings in constructive ways. We must help our students
talk out their fears, think about ways they can help to protect the
freedoms we cherish without allowing hate to rule our hearts and minds.
And we must instill a sense of hope and peace and control.
 How can we know hope or peace in the midst of such pain? I am a
literature teacher and I look to great words that inspire and comfort. I
am drawn to John Donne who wrote, "No man is an island, entire of
itself...every man is a part of the main...Any man's death diminishes me
because I am involved in mankind," and I want my students to know that
these people who have died are part of our lives whether we know their
names or not. And when he wrote in "Holy Sonnet 10" "Death be not
proud...for thou art not so...Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings and
desperate men..Death thou shalt die," I want them to have hope for those
who have lost loved ones. And there is hope. And faith. We have only to
look at the thousands of people lining up to give blood, to sift through
mountains of rubble to rescue and recover people, to contribute money
and time to search efforts, to communities who are rallying around
families who have lost friends and relatives, to our military who is on
alert to protect us, to our law enforcement agencies who are already
tracking down the terrorists. We have what Thomas Paine knew 200 years
ago was the most potent weapon against tyranny and oppression. We have
each other. We have our love of freedom and justice. We have our faith
in our nation and in our people. We have faith in God. These will
sustain us in the days ahead.
  As teachers we, along with parents, are the closest examples to our
students of how to respond to these events. What we say, what we do,
will be more important that we can know right now. Keep the faith. Keep
the hope. There are no "summer soldiers". We are all on the front lines
of a battle for the hearts and minds of our future.