Shelter In Place

I had never heard the term, shelter in place, until today, as four hundred thousand people in Boston and its environs have been asked to remain home while authorities search for the suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings. It is an astonishing and unimaginable situation.  We try to go about our business, and return again and again to the news, searching for updates, for explanations. None are yet to be found.

Again, we ask ourselves:  why? Again, we have no answers.

We bolster ourselves with stories about the emergency responders who jumped unwaveringly into action on the day of the bombing.  The helpers:  the EMTs, the doctors, the members of the military, and the ordinary people.  All hailed as heroes.

Heroes:  we crave them.  In times of darkness, when we do not understand why individuals have acted deliberately to cause mayhem and death, we long for visible signs that humanity is not yet lost.  We fear being left alone, confused; wounded, bleeding, grievously harmed. We yearn to know that if we are in the path of danger or destruction, someone will come to our aid.

To be abandoned: our most terrible nightmare.

Comfort us, protect us, help us.  Save us, our heroes.