APRIL 16
At a time like this, how beautiful is every human face.
—NEWS COMMENTATORThe occasion was the death of Robert Kennedy, and the
newsman was watching the long line of mourners slowly
moving by Kennedy’s body as it lay in state.
I think of this quote again as a camera plays over another
crowd, this time at a political convention. The speaker is
talking about her experience of contracting the AIDS virus
through a blood transfusion, and of the subsequent death
of the son to whom she later gave birth. The crowd is
hushed. People watch with tears in their eyes—no hint of
the stridency and competitiveness that have colored this
convention and will again.
Perhaps these two scenes remind us that as we confront
death, there is a reservoir of love and compassion in the
human community. We don’t need to be afraid to show our
vulnerability, because to mourn when we are bereaved is
not a sign of weakness but a stepping into the circle where
all the brothers and the sisters can put their arms around us
and hold us close, if we give them a chance.
The love inherent in the human family is available to me.