Dealing with the aftermath

By Jeremy Reynalds
web posted September 24, 2001 

Quite appropriately after last week's nightmare attack on
America, we've been warned by the experts that over-exposure
to news featuring disturbing visual images that excel horror
conceived formerly only in the minds of Hollywood
screenwriters, can be detrimental to children.

This fact was really brought home to me when my 12-year old
son asked if I thought that maybe we were beginning World War
III.

Other parents faced different comments and questions from their
children. Writing on an America-on-Line bulletin board, one
mother related some of what her four-year-old has been telling
her during the last few days. According to this mom, her son
commented "Mommy, all the people that went to God left their
shoes on the floor." Then he asked her, "Why didn't the plane-
man turn the wheel? Why did he make a fire in the buildings."
And then most tellingly, this youngster, forced to confront
realities with which he was not yet ready to deal, said "Mommy,
I made a (sic) airplane from the Play-Doh but I'm not gonna
crash the buildings, okay?"

And as mom continued in the same post, "Just three of the
sentences that came out of my four-year-old's mouth this week...
Sentences that should never have been there... visions that we
should never have seen... the smell of fire in our living room - the
smoke in our sky - the constant sound of emergency vehicles.
Lock-down in our schools - fear in our hearts."

But while the viewing of this tragedy affects children in a very
special way, it also produces emotional trauma and turmoil in
adults. Calvary of Albuquerque Pastor Skip Heitzig summarized
his feelings when he told his congregation that, after viewing the
wall-to-wall coverage for a number of hours one day last week,
he felt pummeled.

I also experienced the same effect as Pastor Skip and found it
necessary to take a news break: read the Bible, pray and watch
an innocuous TV drama. Don't feel bad about doing the same
thing. You're not being unpatriotic, just making a diligent attempt
to maintain your emotional and spiritual well-being so that you
will still be able to pray effectively for our country following this
awful disaster.

And ABC News is evidently realizing that certain images are just
too terrifying with which to keep bombarding the American
public. Just a couple of days ago, according to "Broadcasting
and Cable" as quoted in "The Drudge Report," ABC News
President David Westin said that his network would no longer air
any more replays of the terrorist attack on the World Trade
Center. According to Drudge, "Westin noted that gratuitous use
of the footage is inappropriate."

While everyone is grieving, the terrible events of September 11th
are affecting different people in different ways. Clinical
psychologist Christopher M. Peterson, PhD, told
www.WebMD.com that "there is no normal way to grieve; there
is unbelievable variation. Some get over it very quickly; some
never get over it. Some are very emotional; some are quiet. The
advice is this: there is no blueprint for getting back to normal.
People should find what is comfortable for them and let others
find what makes them comfortable. There is no need to chastise
others for enjoying themselves."

With the tragedy impacting everyone differently, how are the
homeless coping, many of whom have lost everything except
their lives? How do they feel when what is regarded as the very
epitome of American success gets blown up before their eyes?
Some residents of Joy Junction–New Mexico's largest
emergency homeless shelter-- bared their hearts.

One shelter resident who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I
have a vulnerable state of mind when I remember the morning of
September 11th. I wonder if a bomb will explode during a major
event in the future?"

Another guest said, "I think the bombings of New York and the
Pentagon is a violation (sic) of everything America stands for. I
was born in New Jersey and the World Trade Center was an
object of fascination. I would like to see us annihilate all of
Afghanistan; all countries harboring terrorists. I think this was the
most cruel act in peace time, something that will never be
forgotten. (It reminds Americans) just how things can happen in
the blink of an eye."

Another resident commented, "I think that the thing that
happened (sic) in New York is just a part of Bible prophecy.
We can look for more things to happen; like earthquakes. We
cannot stop Bible prophecy."

And despite having lost all of her physical belongings one lady
commented, "My heart really goes out to all the people who has
(sic) lost loved ones in New York. I watched the news one day
and saw a lady looking for her fiancé and I put myself in her
shoes and the pain it had on me. God Bless."

Men were hit just as hard. One man said, "(The New York
Tragedy) was a shock to me and my wife. We felt the pain in our
hearts. Me and my wife pray for New York! This was a tragedy
that was too close to home. We pray these families find justice in
their hearts and that nothing like this happens again."

So what's the answer? I am unable to say it any better than the
mother of that little four-year-old I quoted above. She wrote that
even after September 11th, " ... America is still the land of the
free and the home of the brave. ONE nation ....under GOD
...INDIVISIBLE ...with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL."

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and
director of Joy Junction (http://www.joyjunction.org/), New
Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's
degree in communication from the University of New Mexico
and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola
University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and
lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work can be viewed
here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He may be
contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org.

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