Reading the Pictures: All I Can Say Is: We Are In A Moment

Imagine -- imagine for a moment, here was a young girl who was just becoming aware of our democracy; just beginning to understand the obligations of citizenship; just starting to glimpse the fact that some day she, too, might play a part in shaping her nation's future.  She had been elected to her student council.  She saw public service as something exciting and hopeful.  She was off to meet her congresswoman, someone she was sure was good and important and might be a role model.  She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted.

I want to live up to her expectations.   I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it.  I want America to be as good as she imagined it.    All of us -- we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations.

Christina was given to us on September 11th, 2001, one of 50 babies born that day to be pictured in a book called "Faces of Hope." On either side of her photo in that book were simple wishes for a child's life. "I hope you help those in need," read one. "I hope you know all of the words to the National Anthem and sing it with your hand over your heart. I hope you jump in rain puddles."

If there are rain puddles in heaven, Christina is jumping in them today. And here on Earth, we place our hands over our hearts, and commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

-- Barack Obama / January 12, 2011. McKale Memorial Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

The caption of this photo in the New York Times, published one day after Obama's poetic sermon to the country, reads:

Lindsey Lummus, 10, wearing an angels wings and a halo, watched as the funeral hearse carrying the casket of Christina Taylor Green, 9, arrived at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church on Thursday in Tucson.

With Lincoln's words about "better angels" near audible, the expectations Obama spoke of are conjured, at once, in this imaginary Christina, this living angel, and the thousands, tens of thousands more she symbolizes.

All I can say is: we are in a moment.

(photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images. h/t: A_. NYT article here.)

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Comments

[theuniversalcollective]

02:14 PM on 01/14/2011

Repeal the Second Amendment to the Constituti­on of the United States of America.

[Twinz48]

02:41 PM on 01/14/2011

I'm not a gun owner. I don't like guns and I would probably never want one in my own home, but the 2nd Amendment gives our citizens that right, and I don't want it repealed. The large majority of gun owners exercise this right in a responsible manner and the acts of a few should not be cause for repeal of one of our essential rights. We already have laws that regulate the sale and purchase of guns and to the extent that these can be strengthened further to prevent access to these weapons by those we as a society can clearly define should be excluded from that right, then we should do so. But repeal? No.

[gvscmr]

03:03 PM on 01/14/2011

I'm not a gun owner nor do I like them... Repealing the 2nd Amendment makes no sense. But I will say the comment made by someone in the news the other day that "if there was a "Good Guy" in the crowd that day with a gun this would not have happened." Not only is that delusional, but it's irresponsible to make such a statement. Those 30 rounds clicked off in a matter of a couple of minutes or less and even IF there was a "Good Guy" in that parking lot that day with his gun strapped on it would have been over before he could have even drawn the weapon much less make it to the location where it happened. Not to mention if the "Good Guy" came flying into the action with guns blazing how many other innocent people would have been killed?

There will always be people who pass the litmus test for purchasing a gun even if they are deranged. I just think Friends and Family need to be more aware of signs that do not seem right. There are no easy answers, but repealing the 2nd Amendment is not the answer.

[Bobotheclown]

01:53 PM on 01/14/2011

It is a moment. I want to hold my breath to see how long it lasts. We are always in a moment aren't we? But we usually waste our moments as if they had no meaning, as if they would go on forever. Little angels catch our eye and remind us that there are angels in every moment if we would just slow down and see them. Everything we do has an effect on someone, on some angel somewhere, why not try to make that next effect a good one? But how to do that in a noisy world where we all find comfort in hate and think we understand the world. We really don't understand very much and we don't even know how little we understand. All that is left is honor. We can honor children everywhere and act like what we did makes a difference. We can be an example because that is the only thing that works, we can show compassion to those who don't deserve it, we can respond with humor to the next attack. Its the little things that have to happen before the big things can be felt. Its us, each one of us, that has to make a change, not the government or the cable networks. We need to be honoring our angels and hold the hand of the future. This world can be a better place one step at a time.

[Balloonman]

11:35 PM on 01/14/2011

Addendum Bobotheclown: Wouldn't hurt the climate of reinvigorated civility if our leader showed by example that he personally is doing everything he can to deter and stop our nation from deploying analogous 30 clip violence under false premises in order to defend our empire's freedom and liberties. And interests.

[rmwarnick]

12:18 PM on 01/14/2011

I didn't think a still picture could bring tears to my eyes. This one did.

[dragucci]

11:58 AM on 01/14/2011

So true,lets not blow it.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

11:22 AM on 01/14/2011

First time I've cried since the shooting.
Sheesh.

[apoyo]

10:56 AM on 01/14/2011

I hope they honor her name and behave as true Christians should.

Jesus harbored ill will toward no one.

He accepted all into his fold. Didn't just welcome them, accepted them.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

11:45 AM on 01/14/2011

Noble sentiment.
Pardon me if I am greatly concerned over the ramifications of Jesus' followers in public policy.
e.g. Is there a Christian position on gun control? On extended clips? On political vitriol?

[TggerJen]

12:03 PM on 01/14/2011

I'm no authority on Christian positions on public policy, but I'll offer an opinion.

No there isn't anything about gun control or extended clips. People can be armed and even well-armed and still behave the way Jesus called them to behave. There is a position on political vitriol - and it's not in favor of it ever. It's not acceptable to lie about people, even when you don't like them or their policies. It's not acceptable to lie about Pres. Obama and his policies, but neither is it acceptable to lie about Gov. Brewer and hers.
Too often, those who shriek about vitriol are very willing to indulge in it themselves. They seem to be entirely unaware that they have the same responsibility to be honest and measured as they are demanding of others.
I have no allegiance to either of the parties and view them in a similar (but not the same) light. I am as offended by the hate speech aimed at Gov. Brewer and Arizona as I am about that aimed at Pres. Obama, any of the Democrats, and/or Washington D.C. People on both sides go over the line far and often although one side does tend to take it a bit farther in the wrong direction more often.

I don't call on other people to behave as Christians should. I call on all people to be fair and honest, to be aware of their biases and think about what they say/write, and to stop calling others names. I hope they'll start to be professional, abandon their ideologies, and start working to honestly solve our problems in the best interests of all Americans (not just their base on Both sides). I call on them to treat others the way they all want to be treated. It's time to do what is right, not what is easy.

[RedsKid2]

12:28 PM on 01/14/2011

I wonder if you would care to check out this link? I've had a very hard time with right-wing versions of Christianity and found the perspective of the progressive Christian movement to alleviate that considerably.

http://www.sojo.net/

[ReadMyLipstick1]

10:48 AM on 01/14/2011

We indeed are in a moment Mr. Shaw. As horrendous as the happenings were that have brought us to this moment, and hopefully will be everlasting. Regardless of the cause of the shootings last Saturday, regardless of the reason this young man did what he did, here is yet another opportunity, or moment as it were, for each of us on an individual basis to take a good look at ourselves. Forward we each can be a little more civil, a little more understanding, perhaps a little firmer, but in all cases, do a little something to make this world a little bit better. We all possess that power.

[ForTheChildren]

09:54 AM on 01/14/2011

Yeah, we sure are. What's the real tragedy here? The way the death of a child has been adsorbed by the dog and pony show that's Uessian politics. The moment? Well, all well-meaning people, regardless of their private demons or personal politics, are emotionally drawn to the drama that went down in, where was it again? Oh yes, Tuscon. How quickly we forget. All the prior dramas that drew powerful speeches from powerful men who all went on to do nothing. Look at the Haitian drama unfolding in other stories on Huffpo. Tell me why we are now deporting Haitian refugees back to that mess. Okay, omg, lol, wtf, and all the rest of that stuff. It's lgo, know what I mean?

[Princess Fiona]

09:23 AM on 01/14/2011

They say a picture is worth a thousand words; this picture does just that. Michael your ending statement that "we are in a moment" opens the door for some thought provoking questions. How does "we are in a moment" define us? How will what we do when "we are in a moment" be perceived by others?

Thank you for sharing "this moment" with us...

[mamababa]

09:17 AM on 01/14/2011

The media sure loves to orchestrat­e the emotional highs and lows of the public - first they froth things up to a fever pitch until something breaks, then they shape the landings - all in the name of money.