Tragedies bring out the best and worst in people, as history has shown. Some events are so horrific, they leave us with a loss of words and a sense of complete helplessness. In the wake of the devastating Japan earthquake, the stories don't seem to be getting any better. It's all still too fresh, raw and surreal. But this morning's Los Angeles Times featured a piece by Laura King, reporting from Tokyo, on the impeccable manners of the Japanese - the only thing that doesn't appear to have been destroyed by the seismic wrath. You can read the story online at www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/.
Reading it on page A6 of the Times is gut-wrenching, with the accompanying photo above the fold across two pages that no words can help comprehend. May this remind us all to give generously to aid organizations providing relief to those affected by this catastrophe, and to take stock of our own preparedness while taking note of the grace of the Japanese. It DOES Manner A lot!
Showing posts with label civility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label civility. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
CIVILITY
President Obama's call this week for a return to civility was delicately woven through perhaps one of his best speeches, striking the difficult balance between embracing a shocked nation with assurances of better days while honoring those Americans whose lives were forever changed last Saturday in Tucson.
The welcomed dialogue now taking place around the country of civility and civil rhetoric has all roads leading back to Washington. The horrific events last weekend outside the Tucson Safeway defy logic, explanation or reason. History is still unfolding.
But since civility has been painfully kicked onto the national stage, i'd like to share with you a wonderful op-ed piece by columnist David Brooks in this week's New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/opinion/14brooks.html?_r=1
and George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation: A Book of Etiquette: http://www.history.org/almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm
If you don't have a copy or have never read the latter, please do. Both links are well worth your time and vital foods for thought.
The welcomed dialogue now taking place around the country of civility and civil rhetoric has all roads leading back to Washington. The horrific events last weekend outside the Tucson Safeway defy logic, explanation or reason. History is still unfolding.
But since civility has been painfully kicked onto the national stage, i'd like to share with you a wonderful op-ed piece by columnist David Brooks in this week's New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/opinion/14brooks.html?_r=1
and George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation: A Book of Etiquette: http://www.history.org/almanack/life/manners/rules2.cfm
If you don't have a copy or have never read the latter, please do. Both links are well worth your time and vital foods for thought.
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