It is hard to imagine that 15 years have passed since that astonishing and shocking day when the world trade center came down in heaps of metal, shards of glass and a sea of litter. And ofcourse a crater in the field at Shanksville PA, and damage to the Pentagon. It is odd that we now think of our world in terms of before and after that horrific event. And it is tragic how much that event has taken from us, even if we have not known someone affected by the events. I think i long for the days when we did not scrutinize each other so carefully, or do not live with an unsettled sense of wonder about the possibilities of other such terror events. I dont think i am alone in the wish for a kinder and gentler age.
But through these 15 years so much has been said about terror, So much was written about the lives lost. And issues have been raised that we were not even thinking about prior to 911. I want to offer a few thoughts that have run through my mind about that day, our society, and our world:
- We really have been so fortunate to avoid such tragic terror attacks in this country. Some nations of the world live with routine bombing, killing and kidnapping. Until this day we did not really know such things on our shore. Its interesting that even in world war II when enemy subs were off our coast there was no doubt we could take care of business and guard our nation.
- Vulnerability brings fear, sometimes quite reactionary fear. Just watching those images on tv set off triggers in all of us that made us unsettled. The more the focus on this news, the deeper the fear sank in all of us.
- Americans are courageous people – we have been known for our courage, our dogged determination to stand our ground or take our ground. I appreciated the groundswell of patriotism that has grown from that day.
- Hero come in every form… from the daring firemen that ran into burning buildings, to the mzny faces we will never see who did something daring, hugged a survivor, placed a flower on the makeshift memorial, or buried a loved one, heros are heros
- Tragedy changes everything including our own freedoms. Sadly laws to protect us from 911 type attacks are eating away at our freedoms granted by the constitution.
- We are stubborn, strong, determined fighters – we build again on the ashes of the ruins.
Whatever your thoughts or memories of 911 are, i challenge you to make a commitment to do good, to make each day one that is filled with the greater good for all. The only way to overcome such horrific terror i to do good for our society and our world.