There is a river whose streams make glad
 |
| Memorial at Safeway, Tucson -- January 20, 2011 |
the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is with her; she will not fall.
God will help her at break of day.
From President Obama's memorial address
Tucson, Arizona -- January 12, 2011
Candles flicker in the evening shadows. People come and go. They come to ponder the why, to live the question of how could this happen. They pause for a glimpse of teddy bears and hand lettered posters and the campaign signs of a beloved congresswoman.
It's been two weeks. The Safeway grocery is busy with shoppers but the memorial and the flowers and the candle flames outside are fresh with the memory of two weeks ago.
God will help at break of day.
Beautiful, Wanda. Just beautiful. I will carry this with me all day.
ReplyDeleteA few more observations about the Safeway on Ina and Oracle:
ReplyDeleteWe met a young salesperson at the golf cart shop on Friday who is a graduate of Mountain View HS. His sister attended there with the alleged shooter. "Things aren't good for the way people see us (meaning Tucson) right now, " he told me.
From casual conversations you know that this community has been changed.
The clerk at the Safeway, handing me a receipt for a donation to their relief fund, offered a heartfelt "thank you." Both customers before me in line had quizzed her about "what was it like" and I could see the pain of her re-living the event in her constant conversations. I made my purchase and asked if she could accept a donation. That was enough, I thought.
It's a good thing to go shop there. Normal ways have to return. You know that the parking lot has been powerwashed and you sense the tragedy as you observe the candles and notes and signs and stuffed animals. We were there at sundown on Thursday last week. The place holds a sacredness -- it is like a shrine -- and yet has the feel of being the ordinary place where people go for groceries and other sundries.
But that's what life is like. The ordinary becomes sacred; the sacred becomes ordinary. In that wonderful merger of the two is where we see good and where we see God.
Thanks for your comment, Heidi. It's good to hear that words are precious.
WJ