Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

Governor Davis was, as we say in the Mid-West, "between a rock and a hard place" when presented with the information that Bay area bridges had been targeted by terrorists over a week ago. Even though the reports had been unsubstantiated if he had not informed the public and something had happened, he would have been hanged in effigy. If he informed the public and nothing happened, he would receive criticism for alarming the public unnecessarily and risk the danger of being accused of "crying wolf" should another terrorist report loom its ugly head and he is faced with the same dilemma again. We know the choice he made. Politics ain't easy, folks, but neither is anything else in life. This is just one of the challenges we face during these uneasy times. Delivering the mail, wearing a turban, or just getting on with life are others.

In President Bush's address to the American people this week he urged Americans to go forward in life, to be alert when a terrorism alert comes but not intimidated. I think that's what the Bay area did when faced with "bridge" crisis. Television stations showed their willingness to return to normalcy when NBC and CBS opted not to broadcast live the President's address to the nation but to show hit shows like "Friends" and "Survivor" instead. Ah, yes, life goes on. Which one did you watch?

Americans need to get on with their lives but smarter and wiser, not as the innocents we once were. The Bible has a scripture for this. Matthew 10:16 says to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves." Our nation has taken certain freedoms for granted and we have been lax in areas of security, thinking that certain horrors couldn't happen to us. The anthrax scare has shown us once again how vulnerable we really are. Airport security systems are still lacking. Chemical plants can be penetrated with a little planning. Gas pipelines alone would be simple to hit since they are run only 3 or 4 feet below the ground and locations are on public record. Food and water supplies are easy targets. Of course in all fairness we as a nation have made good strides in upping our security awareness, but we'll never be totally safe without God's protection.

Ah, yes, God's protection! Here is another area we have taken for granted. It's true that in these times of terrorism our nation has come back to God. It's been refreshing to see a nation that had tried its best to keep God on the back burner, bring him to the forefront, acknowledge him, reverence him, pray to him publicly, and realize he is our only hope. If getting back to normal means letting go of this, I pity us all. For then we wouldn't have learned much. We wouldn't be smarter. We wouldn't be wiser. We'd just be back to normal.

©November 2001

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