Boston Strong

           

I was in Boston visiting family for the Easter Break. I arrived on the afternoon of the Boston Marathon, fortunately, by the time I got out of Logan Airport, the last of the runners had crossed the finish line on Boylston Street in the Back Bay, so the City was (for a change) relatively congestion free and, in the West End, where I was staying, there was little evidence of the historic follow up to last year's tragedy, save the occasional reveler celebrating in one of the ubiquitous Irish pubs found throughout "Bean Town" and more than a few satisfied hurtlers with completion badges proudly displayed around their neck.

            I have to admit to a small amount of reluctance in making this trip as its proximity to the anniversary of last year's bombing, like the anniversary of 9/11 brought the tragedy a little too close to home for comfort (see the November entry of my Blog at lasallehs.blogspot.com). Readers of this space will remember that my brother, who works in New York's City Hall, which is blocks from Ground Zero, was impossible to contact until late in the day on 9/11. Ironically last year's Boston Marathon found two of my cousins, cheering on the athletes, just blocks from the finish line.  Fortunately they were far enough away that they were out of harm's way; but who really understands that in real time?

            So, as it got closer to my departure day and the news stories on the anniversary of the Boston Marathon tragedy began to multiply in frequency and in depth, I found myself turning off the radio during drive time. I wasn't sure how to feel, much less what to expect when I arrived in Boston, but I was fairly confident that it would be unusual. What I found, upon landing, was a city determined to prove to the world that a random act of terrorism was not going to detract from their pride in and support of the Nation's oldest continuously operating marathon held in a city that they loved. Someone made a lot of money on tee shirts, as everywhere I went people were wearing the slogan "Boston Strong."  Even when I got together with my cousins, there was hardly a mention of their connection to the bombing (and, trust me, my cousins talk a lot). It was only then that I began to understand the concept of resilience.

            A common definition of resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. It echoes the virtue of prudence from the Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher, the 18^th century treatise written by Brother Agathon, the fifth Superior General of the Christian Brothers.  He defined prudence as a virtue which makes us understand what we need to do and what we need to avoid. My cousins, proud - and resilient - Bostonians, weren’t about to dwell on a painful moment in time, but wanted to talk about the next family reunion, while I was turning off the radio because I didn’t want to be reminded of that awful tragedy.

In a recent interview on Face the Nation, the Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, commented on the anniversary of the Boston Marathon tragedy by claiming:

It's an Easter story... Boston has risen up from carnage, from death…at an event that brings people together. They've risen from that…the whole Boston community, has reminded us once again of the message of Easter. Life is stronger than death. Hope is stronger than despair.

             I suppose, in the end, Cardinal Dolan’s approach is not only the message we need to emphasize when life delivers overwhelming difficulties; but we must also embrace his Easter notion that life is stronger than death and hope is stronger than despair.  I must admit that it was abundantly obvious to me, during my short sojourn, that Bostonians - even those who were victimized by the bombing - were committed to the virtues of resilience and prudence. I learned a lot from my cousins and from the city of Boston about how to confront life’s realities, however positive or negative, and, why Easter continues to matter.

            My Easter resolution is to read Brother Agathon’s Twelve Virtues of a Good Teacher a little more deeply so that my resolve to be resilient and prudent will shape how I handle the vagaries of life.