Twelve years ago I was waking as a college Junior to take my
first test of the year in a Religious Studies class that I loved. Soon enough the test was out of my mind
and the tragedy that ensued in Manhattan and Washington were on the forefront
of my mind. I remember feeling
horror, fear, sadness and shock. I
had never felt so helpless, hopeless and angry. As the day went on and the days followed September 11, 2001
I also remember never feeling so connected to humanity and never seeing such
unity in the America and the world.
The world rallied to our side, they supported America in a way that we
hadn’t seen in so long. One
million Iranians came out for a candlelight vigil in Tehran and prayed for and
supported America and the thousands of victims from the horrific events of the
day. The labels of Republican and
Democrat were replaced by American.
It was an amazing thing to see the unity that came from the horror.
Twelve
years later this unity is gone.
The United States invaded Iraq, started rendition, began water boarding,
holding prisoners at Guantanamo and lost any moral high ground we may have once
had. Worldwide polls now show
people believe that the greatest threat to world peace is America. The hatred that Republicans have for
liberalism and the disrespect that Democrats have for conservatives have
replaced American as their number one allegiance. The toxic nature of politics in America is truly
frightening. In a short time we
have gotten a collective case of amnesia and seemingly have not learned
anything from the horror of 9-11-01.
How
then are we to remember this day?
I think we should do so soberly and with seriousness. If we recall, in their last moments
what did so many of the victims on 9-11 do? They called their loved ones and said, “I love you. Thank you.” They reminded their loved ones that they loved them and said
thank you for being a great husband, son, brother, friend, etc…
I
think that is the best way we can remember today. Not by flying a flag or rallying nationalistic support, but
going to those whom we love and reminding them how thankful we are for them and
how much we appreciate their love.
It
seems to me this may be how the victims of that day would like today to be
remembered. My encouragement is to
simply do just that. Go to those
whom you love the most and take some time to remind them how much they mean to
you. All too often we don’t do
this because our pride gets in the way, but we can’t do life without those
closest to us. Life is a team sport;
rugged individualism will get us nowhere.
We should take today to remember those we love and explicitly remind
them of how much we love them and need them.
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