One Year Later
Posted by Stuart at 11:45 PM on September 11, 2002My favorite columnist (not that I agree with everything he says, but I almost always like the way he says it) from the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an excellent article published today. The title says it all: Not Another 9/11 Column. You can read this now, or you can log off and shut down and get quiet, and just remember (external link).
He says that today all Americans should turn off the TV and just reflect on the events of a year ago. "In your own way, on your own terms, remember where you were, what you were doing, what you were feeling when you observed the world change forever, when you witnessed history writ large and in dark gothic script, raw and obscene and indelible. Perhaps this is the best way. "
A year ago today I had just moved into my new apartment on Twin Peaks in San Francisco. I woke up to my clock alarm saying "planes... fire... accident... New York... World Trade Center..." I made it into the living room to see the second of the towers fall, and then I stayed glued to my couch -- one eye on the TV, the other on the view of downtown SF and the planes that were still flying overhead. I called my friends in New York, called my family in North Carolina, called my friends in San Francisco.
I could only take so much media coverage, so I eventually left the house and walked around a mostly deserted town (no one went to work that day). I felt numb. Every now and then I would slip into a bar or restaurant with a TV and watch the latest news. Or I would check my email at an internet cafe. That's where I learned that two of my college buddies worked in the WTC every day, and another was scheduled for a meeting there that day. Eventually I found out that all three were safe.
In many ways I think my numbness and lack of shock was because I have always known that the US has its ememies, and that all of us who live there take our safety and our way of life for granted. But then the next day at work, where everyone was there talking about what had happened, the sheer magnitude of the tragedy hit me.
It has been a long year since then... long on experiences, short on time. It seems as if it has flown by. In the last 365 days I was laid off once and re-hired for a limited time twice. I took my first trip to Asia visiting Thailand and Singapore. I made a lot of new friends, became reaquainted with some old ones, and lost and re-found my very best friend. And now I am in Bangkok again.
They say the world is a different place now, one year later. I am not so sure about that. People have been killing other people in the name of their God for thousands of years. All I do know is that MY world is definately a different place now, one year later.
Thank you Stu for such a well-worded remembrance of that day. In the morning I turned on the TV, got disgusted with the first few seconds, then promptly turned it off. Turned out to be a media-free day for me. :)
What am I left with after the events of a year ago? Well, for one thing, it seems ludicrous to think in terms of 'us' vs 'them.' It's just 'us,' and I guess it always was. It just seems so much sharper now. Like organs of the same body fighting for dominance, to the detriment of the whole. We need to reevaluate Who we think we are, in relation to each other.
What is your/our/my world? Look around, and behold your creation. Accept it, because it IS your creation. If you don't like it, then think again. Choose again. Remake the world as you would have it. That is our duty here. These are our choices.
"Like organs of the same body". I love it, Wes. It doesn't make any sense for your heart to attack your lungs any more than it does to fly an airplane into a skyscraper (or any of the other millions of attrocites people have committed on each other through the years).
My thoughts on how to take in today, the anniversary of the attack on our country, our government, our people, our confidence, our economy, our core, goes along with the article SG summarized. I have very little desire, so I probably will not, watch any tv tonight --- I do not desire to watch an unimagineable (until last year) event sensationalized.
When I awoke this morning - to the radio station I wake up to every morning - I heard one mention about today. I immediately turned off the clock-radio that usually plays for an hour, everyday, and threw in a CD. It wasn't until I was driving to work, local NPR station was tuned in, that I listened to the service taking place in NYC, and heard the Governor of New York read the Gettysburg Address. That historical piece of rhetoric could have very well been written this past year.
It speaks of division within the country, that all men are created equal, the constitution of this great country and how no matter what impedes the path of security and safety and peace, we end up coming together. At least that is what I gleened - that was the meaning for me on this sunny morning in Nashville.
Thinking back on our Civil War, how tribal and devisive, narrow-minded and unaccepting, critical and hateful humanity still is. We fight emotionally, physically, or otherwise our differences, whether by a look, a thought, a comment, or an abrasive gesture.
Will we ever learn?
What I have learned is that life is too precious to be taken for granted. People may have religious beliefs that are different from mine, they may have darker or lighter colored skin, taller or shorter, richer or poorer, badly spoken English or no English at all. But they are people, created by God who created me. Who am I to say I'm better than; therefore, I control your destiny? It's not in my hands, so I love what I can love, and accept what I can accept.
I can't accept the events of a year ago, because for me it was committed out of hate. HATE IS UNACCEPTABLE. I do not wish death upon anyone.
I can be aware, be guarded, open my eyes to events that may lead up to horrific occurences, and hope and pray that an event like 9/11 will never take place on American soil again, or anywhere in the world for that matter. But man is man, we are apt for sin and self-denial and destruction, but we can and we will overcome!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths."