To the editor:
Writing about Ben Franklin, John Adams once referred to him as being both great and good, drawing a distinction between the two attributes. Although many of us do not aspire to greatness, goodness is within reach of us all.
I suppose that is why at this time of year. We subject ourselves to the annual ritual of self-appraisal and an examination of conscience. Although referred to as a New Year’s resolution, it is not a far cry from a personal confession acknowledging our shortcomings with intentions of doing better in the corning year. Unfortunately many of our New Year’s resolutions have withered’ by Valentine’s Day arid have become all but extinct before spring delivers its first blossom.
It is perhaps the ephemeral nature of our intentions that prompt¬ed the Catholic Church to offer weekly confession. Be that as it may, many will rely on the annual exercise of taking stock of ourselves with hopes that some good may come from our efforts, short-lived as they may be.
If yearly renewal is the best we can do, with one quick peek into the looking glass, we should put this exercise to good use. Many injustices and inequities in the world call out for intercession, and if our response is immediate, the positive effects of our effort may reverberate throughout the year. The challenge in this regard recalls the civil rights’ mantra of the ’60s and ’70s, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
Whether by acts of terrorism, as we have experienced, or by natural disaster, the massive loss of life in a single incident demands the sympathy and intercession of every caring person and nation. One such challenge before us today concerns the victims of earthquake in Iran in the village of Bam, southeast of Tehran, in Kerman Province. Here, at least50,000 lives were swallowed up by the earth in a single day. That is nearly 20 times the number of lives lost in the World Trade Center disaster.
Our sensitivities are sometimes numbed by the scope of suffering some are forced to endure, be it the AIDS crisis in southern Africa, me thousands slaughtered in Rwanda, the 30,000 lives lost to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras and now this catastrophe in Iran. These tragedies are so overwhelming that we frequently feel impotent in the face of such devastation.
As impossible as it may have been to assuage the pain suffered by those who lost loved ones in the World-Trade Center attack, as a nation there was at least a modicum of comfort delivered from the expression of condolences offered by the world community. Although the United States government has now offered humanitarian assistance to Iran, that gesture does riot obviate our personal responsibility through contributions to a variety of international charities and relief agencies.
As much as a heart-felt donation can ease the plight of the victim’s families in that Islamic country, it would likewise be a reaffirmation of the fact that Americans are truly a compassionate people with an understanding that suffering has no prejudice, knows no international borders and spares no race, creed or color; and that we, as a blessed nation, acknowledge a kinship with our brothers and sister on this planet, Earth.
A pundit once wrote, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” The same is true with regard to suffering. If we resolve to involve ourselves, to do something to relieve human suffering, we may just find the reflection in next New Year’s looking glass to be more to our liking.
Albert J. Replcci
Greenwich