By Ron Scherer, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / September 13, 2001
NEW YORK
From the terror comes humanity.
Thousands of New Yorkers line up to give blood. A Presbyterian church hands out cups of cold water to parched walkers stranded in the city. Medical students volunteer their services at hospitals. The largest Jewish temple in New York asks a Christian minister and a Muslim holy man to participate in Rosh Hashana, part of the Jewish High Holidays, to show that religions can't be divided.
These are some of the ways New Yorkers are pulling together in the face of one of the worst tragedies in the nation's history. The Big Apple is taking on the mantle of good Samaritan. Scores of tales are coming out about strangers helping strangers, restaurants handing out food, and grocery stores passing out flashlights. It is a message that goodness can prevail.