The year was 1944. The place was Hartford, Connecticut.
America was smack dab in the middle of World War II, and people here in the United States sometimes needed to escape from the hardships the war was causing all throughout the country.
Sometimes, they’d grab a drink a the local bar. Or take in a Saturday afternoon matinee. Or perhaps, if they were lucky, the circus would come into town. It was the perfect way to “escape” for a couple of hours. Such was the case on July 6th. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum Bailey Circus had rolled into Hartford to give a few shows.
They went and bought boxes of popcorn, or maybe a spool of cotton candy, and sat under the big top tent, watching the elephants stand and saluting with their trunks, the clowns running in circles, the trapeze artist defying gravity.
And then it happened. A fire broke out. A raging fire. It spread rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that it killed 167 people and injured 682. Two-thirds of those who perished were children. The cause of the fire was unknown, but it spread at incredible speed, racing up the canvas of the circus tent.
Before anyone could react, specifically the 8,000 spectators inside the big top, huge patches of burning canvas began falling on them from above. Everyone panicked. People stampeded for the exits.
Many of them were trapped under fallen canvas, but most were able to rip through it and escape. However, after the tent’s ropes burned and its poles gave way, the whole burning big top came crashing down. Anyone left inside would soon be dead. Within 10 minutes, it was over. But in that very short time, some 100 children and 60 adults were dead or dying.
Tragedy. As defined, it is an event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe.
It is something most of us hope to avoid during our lives. Yet. All around the world, terrible tragedies happen each and every day. Somewhere. In some way. About a month ago, we saw the terrible fires burn through Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. Almost two years ago, we saw the tragedies start to unfold in Ukraine with the onset of the war from Russia. Every day, children are starving to death in Africa, and other places around the world.
It can be hard to watch these things. I know that I frequently get extremely sad when I hear about these things. I imagine how devastating it must be for these people. How their worlds have been upended.
Whenever that happens, I remind myself how fortunate I am to be standing where I am standing. I give thanks for all the goodness that encompasses my life. And I offer up prayers (or whatever you want to call them: good thoughts, light energy, blessings, condolences). I offer them up to the highest high in the Universe, wishing for peace and healing.
We can do other things too, like donate our money or time.
Or we can simply be good people that day. Better than we were the day before. We can lend a smile to someone, a helping hand, or a good thought of peace. We can generate our little piece of good energy and put it out into the world, hoping that it lands in just the right place.
And then we live. And we learn. And we grow.
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“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
– Benjamin Franklin
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“The energy of the mind is the essence of life.”
– Aristotle
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“When you arise in the morning, think of what precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
– Marcus Aurelius
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The tragedy. And what we do.
