Commentary:

Coda

Nature is proving that it can kill thousands for no reason, with no one to blame, no one to retaliate against. We are being forced to stare directly into the abyss of the nothingness that we all fear is at the end of life.

Some are overwhelmed.

Some are thoughtful.

Some are emotional.

Some are taking a break from writing.

Some are raising money and doing what they can to help.

Some are gaining perspective.

Some are losing perspective.

Some are playing politics.

Some are trying to score points.

There are as many reactions as there are weblogs, and as many reactions as there are people.

New Years is traditionally a time to review the year just past, to look ahead to the year to come, and to make resolutions. The year just past is ending in a tragedy that shows the insignificance of much that generated heated passions, emotions that now seem overwrought in the face of this visit by the Rider on a pale horse at the end of a year of repeated visits by his three companions, a terrible event that when combined with the three years preceding makes a sadly fitting coda to the twentieth century, a century of mass-production death only briefly interrupted by periods of hopes now broken and forgotten.

September 11, 2001, was felt all over America, with many knowing people in the areas affected by the attacks, learning the fear that goes with love when the loved ones cannot be reached. Now we have a tragedy 50 times larger, but with no Earthly agency that can be held responsible, no one to hate, only the anguish of lives ended before their time for no apparent reason, with no deeper meaning, nothing gained from such a terrible sacrifice, and the abyss yawns darkly at our feet returning not even an echo, much less any answers, to the aguished cries of "Why?" ripped from those who had those they love torn away.

Yet of these, there is still hope. Meaning may at last be found, unwilling and unknowing sacrifice may not ultimately be in vain, and the emptiness of the abyss rejected. In the closing minutes of this year when midnight comes, hold your loved ones close, and remember all those who can no longer perform this simple, human act, and remember also we all have loved ones that we eventually lose. In the end, the tragedy of losing the ones we love is the single thing we all have in common, and in that shared grief can be found understanding. Perhaps in the terrible coda this New Years presents we can all learn of our common humanity, our common pain, and what is truly, ultimately important.