Wisdom Speaks: Remembering September 11, 2001

I used to envy people who could answer the question “Where were you when…?” I was not good at that since my memory didn’t allow me to recall some of the most notable dates and what I was doing or where I was at the time. So whenever someone would ask that question, I would simply listen for everyone else’s answer. That is until 9/11.

I was 40 years old and 7 ½ months pregnant with my son. I remember watching the accounts of the day in disbelief. I thought about the horror of bringing my son into a world where someone hates us enough to do something so evil. It left me with a sickening feeling in my stomach; I hoped my unborn child could not feel it.

I thought of all the people who followed their ‘get ready for work’ routine, just like I did. Yes, they made it to work, but would never go home. Then there were the images of planes full of passengers crashing into buildings, watching as people made their last decision to jump from a burning building. Others made decisions to take on hijackers who had control of their plane, knowing they wouldn't be able to fly it. We watched as people fled once the towers crumbled, running in a cloud of dust and debris. And then there was the paper. So much paper, reminders that someone’s memo, invoice or proposal was not going to be faxed, signed or delivered that day.

My mind and heart goes out to the thousands of people who will never be the same. I can’t imagine the grief and hurt that the families endured and continue to have to endure since that day.

I DON’T COMPLAIN

As a result of many changes since 9/11, there are things I no longer complain about, like the wait at the airport, or having to remove my shoes and jacket. I am tempted to get uneasy if I am running late, but then I remember. I have had my hair patted down; my body patted down and had to repack bags after being searched. But again, I don’t complain. When we visited Disney World in 2012, we had to have our purses and bags checked - a normal occurrence now. Some events we have attended within this city wouldn’t allow us to take a bag in. Again….I don’t complain.

I thank pilots and flight attendants when I enter the plane, when they serve me during the flight, and thank them again when I exit the plane. I don’t take for granted that they too are traveling with me and If there was ever an issue, I want them to know we are in this together. Our nation has changed quite a bit, how we travel has changed, how we entertain has changed.

I don’t think that 9/11 changed us for the worst, we were better … at least for a while.

THEN WE FORGOT.

After we got our footing, this nation was united. We knew who our enemy was and were ready to fight. We talked patriotism, we breathed RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, and we were connected even through our differences. But over the years, we forgot.

We forgot our common enemy is not our neighbors, the police, our political opponent or those that support them. Our enemy is not someone who decides to use their right to carry guns or to have an abortion or even sit on the sidelines during the national anthem. Our common enemy is still out there, probably laughing at who we have become.

We missed the real plan of 9/11 was to divide us. Fear divides. A house divided against itself, cannot stand. Fear does that, it makes you run for cover just for yourself, forgetting who you trample over and who gets left behind in the process. Fear makes us suspicious of each other. It makes us arm ourselves with guns- legally or illegally and look for targets outside our door. It makes us succumb to road rage and take out our frustrations on each other. It makes us think that everyone is out to make us late, to cut in front of us or hurt us. Fear makes us think that differences in others, are lethal to our own way of life. Fear was once defined as False Evidence Appearing Real. We have been fooled into thinking that we are not ‘One Nation Under God’, but ‘One Nation Under Siege’; and the battle is with each other in our neighborhoods and schools. We have been sold a mindset and we bought it.

But our enemy is not each other; it is not even just those that mean us wrong. Our greatest enemy is the fear we have allowed to govern our lives and stunt our hopes, destroy our dreams. That is what TERRORISTS did on 9/11, they brought fear.

CASTING OUT FEAR

The bible says “perfect love casts out all fear." Here are two types of LOVE we need renewed in America:

LOVE FOR THOSE YOU LOVE

Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

This is the easier love. It is the one that makes someone take a bullet for their child, spouse, or friend. It is what makes us do something out of the ordinary for those we know and love. Laying down our life can mean our thoughts, our differences, our prejudices or our preferences to keep peace with our friends and family, each one choosing to consider the other. Why sweat the stuff that will not matter on your death bed? We have to learn again to really love those we SAY we love. Too many children are abused or dying at the hands of a parent, or a close family friend. We see marital or romantic relationships that end with someone hurting someone else. We need to learn to genuinely love those we SAY we love. Learn to compromise and consider those closest to us. That will help us band together again as the human race to combat fear.

LOVE FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT LOVE YOU

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8 6

Loving and dying for someone you love should be easier. Loving and dying for someone who does not regard you, is divine. This is where it can hurt most. Scarcely might we die for someone who is good or someone who is right; but this scripture talks about being willing to die, or lay down our lives our thoughts or differences for someone we don’t agree with, or who does not like or regard us. Not losing ourselves, but trying to understand that life consists of many views, many thoughts and I can listen to one without giving up my own. Every discussion does not have to end in a fight!

This is kind of what our first responders do every day. They run into situations to possibly DIE for people who may hate their uniform, people who may not care about them as people or those who outright mean them harm.

On September 11, 2001- over 300 men and women ran into a dire situation to rescue and help people they didn’t know. If they had met on the streets or a grocery store the day before this tragedy, they may not have given each other the time of day. There may have been vast differences, but that didn’t stop our First Responders from doing their job. They ran into a situation and died trying to help someone who may not have even liked them.

That is what 9/11 reminds me of, a nation united, willing to lay aside differences for a common goal. I know it is easier said than done, but if we want to overcome fear, we have to learn to love each other whether we agree or not. As we remember 9/11, don’t forget we are in this together.

We will NEVER agree on everything, we will never be on the same side politically, but we can be on the same side as a nation. We can stand for what we know is right, understanding that just because someone has an extreme view that is different from mine does not mean I belong and they don’t. We all belong here and together we can defeat the fear that has gripped us since 9/11.