"They say that one of the reasons for tragedy is that you
learn important lessons from it…appreciation for your normal life for one
thing….a new longing for things only ordinary…the feeling is that we are so
caught up in minutiae, slicing tomatoes, and filling out forms and waiting in
lines and emptying the dryer and looking in the paper for things to do, that we
forget how to use what we’ve been given. Therefore we don’t taste the plum. We
are blind to the slant of the four o’clock sun against the changing show of
leaves. We are deaf to the throaty purity of children’s voices. We are assumed
to be rather hopeless. Swallowed up by incorrect notions, divorced from the
original genius with which we are born. Lost within days of living this
distracting life. We are capable only of moments of single seconds of true
appreciation and connection. That is the thought."  Elizabeth Berg, Range of Motion

As I awoke this morning, after spending time into the late hours watching news coverage of the I-35W bridge collapse, I thought again of these words from a novel I read long ago. At the time I read the book, I was so struck with their truth that I copied them and have kept them for probably 10 years.

Tragedy. It has a way of waking us up and making us remember the vulnerability with which we walk in the world. It also has the ability to remind us of the gift of the simple, the gift of each ordinary day. And tragedy also puts into blinding perspective what is truly important. I knew this last night when my son called to let me know he was safe, as my family called from around the country unsure of our usual driving patterns, as friends around the cities checked in with each other with urgency, "Are you o.k.?". Tragedy, the great equalizer in the mountains of mostly unimportant worries and busy-ness.

Today, as those trained and knowledgable in recovery and cleanup in tragedies like the one we have witnessed do their work, our prayers are with them. May they be safe and have courage. Today, as the families and friends of those who were on the bridge begin to grapple with what happened, what to do now, how to take whatever steps must be taken, our prayers are with them. May they have comfort and peace. Today, as we walk into the world, vulnerable as we all are, may grace surround each of us…..help us to taste the plum, see the light, hear the children’s voices…..not hopeless, but thankful in our very bones.