Early in the morning, looking east across a south-facing bay lined with distinctive, colorful, long fishing boats, the sun rises spectacularly.
In late afternoon, looking west across the same bay from the fish market, the sun sets equally spectacularly. For a moment, if one can ignore the poverty and the filth of the waste water discharging into the bay, one can feel majestic.
East of the peninsular is the small island of Goree, notorious for being the launching point of numerous slave ships towards America, carrying a significant number of the 20 million slaves captured from West Africa, towards a life that was considered by many to be worst than death.
It is not often that heaven and earth jostle for position in such a stark manner.
Today, in this city, people gather to discuss service-learning, social justice, civic responsibility - human beings being kind to other human beings, to themselves. Perhaps human beings can actually be redeemed? With God's mercy?
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