remembering
Today is, of course, 9/11/2005. We watched a DVD recounting the events, in memory of the day. Today I wonder, what have we learned? What do we remember, has anything changed? I remember some very specific, striking things.
First, the silence over the skies. I found it kind of peaceful, the complete absence of air travel overhead, my husband didn't, it bothered him. Maybe it just reminded me of an earlier time in my life when the constant din and hurry-hurry was not yet. There was a peace, maybe it was the stillness that hangs over a place just after a terrible crash has just occurred, that pregnant silence, that waits to see if any more is to come.
Second, the unity of the country. For one brief moment in time, the bitching had stopped. The country was in mourning but they were doing so in unity. The blessed peace was good, even if the circumstances were terrible. We looked at each other as Americans, as people who for a short time all shared a common bond, a grief that everyone could understand. It didn't last but while it did it was good.
So what do we remember and what have we learned?
I see the bitching has started again. I for one repent of my own complaining. It is exactly what the terrorists, the ones who hate us for what we are and what we believe, want to see. It is what gives them a warm feeling in what passes for the cockles of their hearts, watching us rip each other up one side and down the other.
It's that secret, sweet joy you take when someone you truly hate gets caught publically acting badly. I hear people say they listen to others, that they really want a diologue, but it isn't really true. If they wanted a dialogue, they would have one. No, what the sides want, liberls, conservatives, Red or blue, Republicans or Democrats, is to be right. They want acknowledgement, they want to "inform" others who differ in their opinions of the "right" opinion.
There is no middle ground, no common ground, no understanding. It isn't there. It could be, but it isn't. People are becoming zealots, religiously, slavishly bowing to their own private vision of "the world as it should be". Be careful of the god you worship, for you will become like the god you worship. This close mindedness knows no affiliation, no borders, it takes hold of any and every mind it can. It isn't sticking to ones principles, one can stick to ones principles and still allow others the freedom to voice their belief. It is the incomprehensible, incoherent need to silence any voice that offends, disagrees or threatens your belief. We can be more brave than that.
If the god you serve is real then no person can threaten you by voicing ideas contrary to your own. Seek wisdom, guidance and the god you serve will provide or not. If he does not, then perhaps you need to look for a different god. If the god you serve is so insecure that he can't handle criticism, you need to improve your standards.
I don't know where we are headed, but I know that our inability to come together as a nation despite our differences, despite our lack of conformity, is a bell tolling. We should be able to gather, not just in spite of but even as a result of our differences, we are like a huge animal eating it's own flesh. It is a sickness, a terminal illness. I pray that we see healing of this illness, speak unity and understanding over this nation, not the unity of sameness, but the unity of heart that comes when one knows that we are different but loves the other anyway.
We who are Christian bear a big responsibility in this. We serve a God who is able to change the heart of an individual, a city or a nation. We can trust in his ability, to pray for that to happen, to begin speaking that instead of speaking the problem, always the problem. We know the problem, speak the solution. If you disagree, speak understanding and clarity, if one is angry, speak peace, take a stand against the enemy and stop doing exactly what he wants. We don't need to be alike, we were never made to be alike, we aren't! Speaking the solution in the face of a problem may seem counter intuitive. Oh well, God sometimes doesn't make sense. If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always gotten. How's that working for you?
First, the silence over the skies. I found it kind of peaceful, the complete absence of air travel overhead, my husband didn't, it bothered him. Maybe it just reminded me of an earlier time in my life when the constant din and hurry-hurry was not yet. There was a peace, maybe it was the stillness that hangs over a place just after a terrible crash has just occurred, that pregnant silence, that waits to see if any more is to come.
Second, the unity of the country. For one brief moment in time, the bitching had stopped. The country was in mourning but they were doing so in unity. The blessed peace was good, even if the circumstances were terrible. We looked at each other as Americans, as people who for a short time all shared a common bond, a grief that everyone could understand. It didn't last but while it did it was good.
So what do we remember and what have we learned?
I see the bitching has started again. I for one repent of my own complaining. It is exactly what the terrorists, the ones who hate us for what we are and what we believe, want to see. It is what gives them a warm feeling in what passes for the cockles of their hearts, watching us rip each other up one side and down the other.
It's that secret, sweet joy you take when someone you truly hate gets caught publically acting badly. I hear people say they listen to others, that they really want a diologue, but it isn't really true. If they wanted a dialogue, they would have one. No, what the sides want, liberls, conservatives, Red or blue, Republicans or Democrats, is to be right. They want acknowledgement, they want to "inform" others who differ in their opinions of the "right" opinion.
There is no middle ground, no common ground, no understanding. It isn't there. It could be, but it isn't. People are becoming zealots, religiously, slavishly bowing to their own private vision of "the world as it should be". Be careful of the god you worship, for you will become like the god you worship. This close mindedness knows no affiliation, no borders, it takes hold of any and every mind it can. It isn't sticking to ones principles, one can stick to ones principles and still allow others the freedom to voice their belief. It is the incomprehensible, incoherent need to silence any voice that offends, disagrees or threatens your belief. We can be more brave than that.
If the god you serve is real then no person can threaten you by voicing ideas contrary to your own. Seek wisdom, guidance and the god you serve will provide or not. If he does not, then perhaps you need to look for a different god. If the god you serve is so insecure that he can't handle criticism, you need to improve your standards.
I don't know where we are headed, but I know that our inability to come together as a nation despite our differences, despite our lack of conformity, is a bell tolling. We should be able to gather, not just in spite of but even as a result of our differences, we are like a huge animal eating it's own flesh. It is a sickness, a terminal illness. I pray that we see healing of this illness, speak unity and understanding over this nation, not the unity of sameness, but the unity of heart that comes when one knows that we are different but loves the other anyway.
We who are Christian bear a big responsibility in this. We serve a God who is able to change the heart of an individual, a city or a nation. We can trust in his ability, to pray for that to happen, to begin speaking that instead of speaking the problem, always the problem. We know the problem, speak the solution. If you disagree, speak understanding and clarity, if one is angry, speak peace, take a stand against the enemy and stop doing exactly what he wants. We don't need to be alike, we were never made to be alike, we aren't! Speaking the solution in the face of a problem may seem counter intuitive. Oh well, God sometimes doesn't make sense. If we always do what we've always done, we'll always get what we've always gotten. How's that working for you?
posted by madmom at 11:41 AM
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