How to heal?

Yesterday's attacks were absolutely horrific and everyone's emotions are so raw. The e-mail debates on my campus are becoming increasingly divisive. I have sent out a message asking that the college community focus on service as an avenue for healing. We are all grieving in different ways and I hope that we can all try to support each other and focus on how to strengthen our communities.

This world-wide crisis highlights so many conflicts and feelings of resentment, fear, and hatred. In my own personal life, the contrasts range from one family member sharing the devastating thought that she is finding the position of white supremacy groups more attractive to my husband's family's fear that they will become victims of racism because they are Lebanese. My own hope is that we can some how rise from this terrible tragedy to a higher level of empathy and understanding, creating a local, national, and world-wide community based on love and human dignity.

I am frightened, I admit. I do not know where we will go from here but I have to do something to start the healing process. The only thing that makes sense to me is to turn towards even greater levels of service. Not only will taking part in building a loving community bring me personal solace, but hopefully it will have lasting effects on making the world a better place.

Service-learning gives us such a powerful tool for change and healing. I am going to spend the rest of the day trying to contact service agencies that my students can get involved in through my Social Problems courses. For example, to deal with racism, I would like to work with some of the local refugee groups to expose my students to the experiences faced by the international community. Through service-learning, trying to understand specific problems, taking part in action, and reflecting on the differences we can make, I hope that I can help my students process these debilitating emotions. I hope that you will all be able to find ways to empower yourselves, your families, your friends, your students, and our communities.

The MLK Jr quote shared earlier was so powerful and I truly hope and pray that we can work together towards creating greater levels of goodness and love. We can really make a statement everyday in our courses, on our campuses, and in our communities through service-learning. I also hope that we will all make a unified national effort on Make a Difference Day on Oct. 27 that will highlight the powerful force that unity can create.

How to heal?

by Kim Saliba

12 September 2001 21:33 UTC