This week's issue of the Times is a sober one, as we all reflect upon the terrible events that have occurred. To all those out there who have been affected by this tragic, senseless attack, our thoughts are with you. We hope that the warmth and friendship of Whyville can provide some consolation during life's darker hours.
While we mourn and help each other heal, let us also remember that with every hardship comes the challenge to learn, to grow, to ask ourselves what we can gain from this experience.
I hope we have learned how lack of communication, understanding, and compassion can lead to tremendous pain and suffering.
I hope we all learn that the United States is very much a part of the global community.
Here in the US, we are sometimes not very aware of what goes on in the rest of the world. How many of us have given serious thought to the violence and suffering of other countries? The 1978 bombing in Lebanon, Beirut that killed 200. The 1995 nerve gas attack in Tokyo, Japan. The ethnic cleansing in Rwanda. The decade of civil war in the Balkans. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict that's still causing bloodshed on a daily basis.
People from all over the world have been placing flowers in front of US embassies to show their sympathy and support, to tell us that they know how we feel.
I hope that from now on we will all be ever more in-tuned with what happens in other countries of the world and be ready to show our support and sympathy, to tell them that now we too know how they feel.
City Hall
