Profiles in Courage

Back in 2001, when the horrifying events of September 11 were still raw in our memory, a homicidal idiot decided it would be a good thing to send envelopes through the mail containing anthrax spores. Five people died. Nobody knew who was sending the letters, or why, or where the next one might turn up. It was frightening. It was during this time that I learned we can be at the mercy of the most hysterical people among us.

But we don't have to be hysterical. We can make another choice.

Last week it was reported that two packages mailed to the United States from Yemen contained explosive devices. One of those packages was addressed to a very small religious congregation in Chicago. This small congregation has been meeting in the building of a larger Chicago congregation.

That's pretty frightening for both congregations, and raises interesting questions, one of which is: How did the obscure, small congregation, which doesn't even have its own building, come to the attention of bomb makers in Yemen?

That's a question for the National Security folks. The questions of greatest moment for both congregations are: How purposeful were the bombers in sending the package? Are they determined to strike this little congregation, or was it a random pick in a long list of places they would like to destroy? In other words, what are the chances they'll try again?

If you're a member of either congregation, and your children attend its Sunday school, these are questions to keep you up at night. And you have a choice in how to respond to them.

You could choose hysteria. You could run away and never come back. Or you could allow your fears, which are real and justified, to trump what you say are your values. We see that so often these days.

Or you could choose another approach: courage. It's a quality we don't hear about too often outside of war stories, and apply to ourselves mostly in fantasies. But it is a courageous thing to face evil and not flinch; to say, "Our values are real, even when we are afraid."

If you're a member of the congregation, you do what you can do to make the place as safe as any place can be in this world, short of turning it into a place that violates its own values. I've talked to members of the congregation, and that's exactly what they're doing.

"Does that include suggesting the guest congregation find another meeting place?" I asked.

The response was emphatic. "Absolutely not!"

For some reason, I feel safer now.