i have to admit, it always catches me a bit off guard... as i sit here this morning at Starbucks and listen to the reading of the names... i get very emotional... it's not embarrassing it really hurts... a lot.
All i remember is eating a bowl of cereal rather quickly trying to get out of the door for the start of what was a cool, bright, sunny, fall-ish day. By the end of that day almost 200 people would come together in the worship center of where i served in ministry, trying to make sense of what had occurred that morning as i finished a bowl of corn flakes....
Even now, as i hear these names read aloud all i can think of is, in fact, the terror of the day. Maybe that is a sign of weakness or whatever but that day caused me and countless millions to weep tears that still sting our cheeks to this day.
Many people and pundits talked then and still today (seven years later) of how for that brief moment we (the US) had the sympathy of the world and how we ultimately squandered that by prosecuting questionable military actions around the world, blah, blah, blah.... all i know is that looking at the television screen that morning September 11th, 2001, the only thing that mattered was finding out if my mother, brother and sister- in-law who lived and worked in New York City at the time were alright. i didn't want sympathy, i wanted answers.
To be blunt, i am still a bit angry as well, for as upset as i get every single time i think about 9/11, i believe it would do us good as a nation to see the images of the World Trade Center engulfed in smoke and flames, with greater frequency than simply on the "anniversary" date... perhaps we would with greater consistency remember that evil is very real and very deadly.
11.9.08
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1 comment:
I must admit, Rob, I feel much the same. Not as upset or emotional, but angry that our nation could be surprised and violated that day. Having lived a large portion of my life in the shadows of NYC and having watched the twin towers rise gleaming above the skyline so many years ago, I very much identify with NY. We must be vigilant and ever ready...
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