I spoke the other evening in Atlanta with an Iranian whose life was threatened when Khomeini took over. who was about to be killed. who fled through the mountains to Turkey and who said to me the other night. with tears in his eyes. that what kept him alive was the faith that if only he could survive crossing the mountains. if only he could survive the long walk through the wilderness. that he would reach America and that in America he would be safe. There is a great novel called "America. America" about an immigrant who walked in the 1920s for mile after mile after mile seeking that refuge. that land of hope and opportunity. The concept that we are. as the young lady said in the movie. "Rambo." "the quiet land" is real if you live on the level of violence that is all too common. We seldom realize that to be able to live in a neighborhood without fear. to be able to go to your church or synagogue without terror. to send your children to school without artillery shells going off. that that is a rare and a magic thing.
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