Stu Bykofsky today: Let's mark 9/11 with silence
I concur.
If you pray, pray for all those who lost their lives on 9/11 and the families they left behind. Pray for our police officers, firefighers, EMTs, who lost their lives while bravely trying to save others. Pray not just for those we lost on 9/11, but for the courageous acts these men and women perform every day. Pray for our men and women serving around the world, that they may come home safely.
Pray that all of us have the spirit and bravery of the folks on Flight 93 who refused to give up. Pray for a country so strong that even such a horrific event could not shake it. If you don't pray, do anything you feel apporpriate to honor such bravery.
Hold your family and friends a little tighter today, with the knowledge that life can be more fleeting than we realize. I agree with Stu that flying the flag is a grand idea - I happen to be wearing one today - but know that you don't have to fly a flag to be patriotic. Be patriotic by cultivating the qualitites that make this country great: tolerance, freedom, truth and justice.
Take some time today to listen to someone who may have been affected by the tragic events. Listen not with the deaf ears that discrimate, but really hear. Everyone deals with 9/11 differently, and you don't have to have lost someone to have your heart broken. DO something to make a difference in someone's life today. I have some suggetions in Support and Defend and the Action Center. Check out Citi-zen inspirations and read something uplifting or something that gives you pause.
I will be watching the coverage, reading the papers, and talking with those who have been affected by 9/11 and I will share tomorow and I hope you will too.
Wanted to share some cage words from Governor Howard Dean and I hope we can all remember that we are all in this together and we should not rest until we find the perpetrators of this attack on America and the values she holds dear:
Today we remember many things.
We remember where we were. We remember the scenes on television.
We remember the victims who were murdered. We remember the families and loved ones they left behind.
We remember the heroes who charged into danger to save lives.
We remember a moment of unity at home and around the world, where people rallied around a single mission and a common sense of justice that must be done.
Today we face many challenges at home and abroad. And too often it's too easy to be distracted by the politics, the pundits, and the posturing.
We must always remember that the dangers we face know no political party, and the solutions and leadership we need now go beyond ideology.
We must meet these challenges head-on -- remembering to stand together in action as we live together under threat. We are all Americans.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
We will not be silent.
Today we remember many things.
And tomorrow, back on the campaign trail, we will remember to take with us the plain truth and a commitment to true justice for all those whose lives were transformed on this day five years ago.
Thank you.
Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
Nice Flavia,
we are so blessed and fortunate to live where we do and have the chances we have.
in spite of our flaws.
we live in the best country in the world.
Posted by: evolo at September 11, 2006 05:44 PMThanks for the contemplative piece, Flavia. I was in the middle of a maddening day, getting caught up, and then your writing helped me re-focus.
9-11 was a destructive act, and it makes you think "what were they trying to destroy?" and that leads to "what is America?" These are questions that I think also have a place in prayer.
I heard that Bloomberg today, in his speech, said basically that they tried to attack the heart of America, and the heart of AMerica is capitalism, and that that they failed cuz capitalism is too strong. I got this report secondhand. I'm assuming there is more to it. I felt bad for Bloomberg, that his vision of America is so limited and anemic: just capitalism. Can somebody please let me know if my secondhand info is good? (Yeah, I know, I could search online... but I've been at my computer for 13 hours so far today and I'm getting the he*! out of here.)
And I agree with evolo.