For those of us who were around in 1964, you may remember the tragic case of Kitty Genovese.  Who was Kitty Genovese?  She was a woman in New York who was one day savagely attacked and killed by a man while, regrettably (and this is what made her case so famous), a number of people stood by and simply watched.  As one man put it, when Genovese asked for help, he demurred, saying, "I didn't want to get involved."
     Today, the killer, Winston Moseley, continues to serve a life sentence in a prison in upstate New York.  Genovese would have been 79 this year; Moseley is approaching 80.  At the time of the attack, numerous newspapers opined about the tragedy of it all, wondering aloud why no one, absolutely no one would help Genovese.  Why?
     We may never know, fully, but we can say that, sadly, all of us have heard the spectator's lament countless times before:  few of us want to be involved in the problems of others.  Though I could offer all manner of (mostly deserved) critique of American society on this point, I will observe only that none of us would be here today had it not been for the selflessness and sacrifice that rests at the heart of the universe.  We weep for Ms. Genovese because though we understand that the cosmos is the result of various chemical reaction and exchange, we also understand that we only love because the universe itself is grounded in a sacrificial love that makes life worth living.  We want to love because there is love with which to love.