Creative Coping in a Tragedy

by Sharina Alongi Adkins

How do we creatively cope with a tragedy of the magnitude of the devastating terrorist attacks on the United States of America on September 11, 2001?

I know that my family and I live a very sheltered life here in the Missouri Ozarks. We know that there is a great deal of violence in the homes of many who live here in this otherwise peaceful rural community. Spousal abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse are all around us, and as a therapist, my husband daily deals with these issues of personal violence. I deal with them daily on a personal level having survived this type of domestic violence. Although there is a great deal of hatred sown here in far too many Ozark homes, we have been protected from mass violence of the sort our brothers and sisters in Israel, Ireland, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and too many other countries face daily.

My friends, the hatred that sows the sort of violence perpetrated in America’s financial and political heartbeat on September 11, 2001 is no different than the hatred we personally sow when we do not instead sow love in our homes and communities. Contempt is contempt. It grows and festers whether on a large-scale attack on innocent people or on a single attack on an innocent child.

What can we do to cope with the violence and contempt that was shown so many Americans on September 11? We can only sow love. We can pray for and with the victims of violence everywhere. We can show support for and with the victims of violence everywhere. We can give our gifts of love, time, and/or materials to victims of violence everywhere. You know someone who has been harmed by contempt and hatred. You do not have to travel to New York City or Washington, DC to help these most recent victims of mass hatred. Help someone locally in their names.

Be creative. Use your creative gifts to help victims of violence in your own communities and in your own homes. Yes, we who are not in the immediate area of the attacks will all soon learn ways to help those people hurt in the tragedy. We are called to pray. We are called to donate blood. Be creative. Pray for and support all victims of violence. If the contempt that is sown in victims of violence is not soothed by the power of love, their contempt will only sow more hatred. There are too many walking wounded in our society. Seek them out. Support and pray for them. Be creative. If you are the victim of violence, help is available. You have a choice to end the cycle of contempt. There are people who want to help you.

There are creative solutions to contempt. Compassion is the one that first comes to mind. We can cope as a nation and as people of a global society if we commit to loving relationships personally, professionally, and politically. Peace sounds impossible, but it is a worthwhile dream.

We are all victims of the “Attack on America.” It so horribly shows us what can happen if hate is in charge. I dream of an Earth that holds no victims of violence, domestic or otherwise. Let us all pray that we can escape contempt and embrace compassion in our own lives.