Sunday, September 11, 2011

Remembering Forward

Honoring Grief or Glorifying Hurt?
I've seen these lights each year for the last nine, but this year I stopped and took a picture for the first time. Ten years has passed. Life did indeed go on even for those who felt it couldn't possibly. Yet everyone still feels differently about this date and its forever embedded events- sorrow, hopefulness, resilience, stubborn incomprehension, and still anger. Though less raw, it still breathes fire into the efforts at civic discourse and rebuilding, like the neighborhood mosque. I went by there the other day and peeked inside. People were praying. Seemed a shame that a police officer had to guard the place, ironically, from "extremists." I look forward to the time when we can all truly share something- beyond pure, unfiltered emotion- about the tragic events of 9-11. What have we learned from our trauma and loss of innocence? Listening to a special episode of On Being with Krista Tippet, from St.Paul's Chapel helped me make some sense of the different journeys being made toward healing over the long term. Echoing through the cavernous streets of Lower Manhattan now are the names of the people who lost their lives that day...interrupted by the noxious roaring Harleys of some leather-clad motorcycle club from some other state. Here to share or here to keep rage alive?

1 comment:

  1. When I awoke this morning, I asked myself, What should I do today that will grow my understanding of the significance of 9-11 to me, to others and its potential importance to this remarkable but often naive country that I love? I knew that whatever I did, I didn't want to get caught up in the swamp of jingoistic political and cultural speeches that will be long on verbage and flag waving but woefully short on insight.Your blog this morning resonated with me;plus,it provided the additional advantage of directing me to Krista Tippet's program, "On Being", which focussed on growing, evaluating, our understanding of 9-11 as part of the process of "remembering as we go forward". Thank you, Ray.

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