Day of Reflection

September 11, 2010

I'm addicted to facebook. I don't want to be. Sometimes I try to walk away for a day or two to prove to myself that I can, the same way I give up caffeine for a while just to prove that I can. But this morning, I had absolutely no desire to harvest my crops or chat with old friends or snoop into the lives of other people. I didn't log onto facebook until after the coverage from Ground Zero of the reading of the names. And even then I just wasn't into it. I saw a link to a video tribute set to the song "Have You Forgotten?". I shared the link, too, then logged off facebook until a few minutes ago. When I got back on, my sweet, adorable, honest cousin had commented on my link, something along the lines of "No, I haven't forgotten, but I don't need these grim images to remind me." I was taken aback, and thought I'd better watch the whole video. So, I did. There were images of bodies in midair, people who had flung themselves from the top floors of the Trade Center rather than face whatever horror was up there. The images were in poor taste, and I feel terrible that I was a party to sharing it on facebook. So I deleted the link from my profile and spent some time thinking about what I want to remember about September 11.

It's time to heal. That's how I feel. It was a tragic, horrific, devastating day in the history of the United States of America. The repercussions of that day are being felt now, nearly a decade later, and will continue to be felt for decades to come. I shed tears every year when I am reminded of the horror of that day. But the horror continues for innocent people day after day; soldiers and civilians continue to die daily as a result of September 11, 2001. Those who were physically responsible for the devastation of that day are dead. They can never be punished. So we continue to try and end terrorism on a global level. Will we EVER end terrorism? Of course not. Terrorists believe they are on a mission from God, the same way millions of others believe they are on a mission from God in many different ways. I'm weary of war. I'm weary of partisanism. I'm weary of discord. Michelle Obama and Laura Bush were together in Pennsylvania this morning, and when Fox News cut away from Mrs Obama's speech, I was upset. She had brought me to tears with her thoughtful words and the people on "my side" cut away, much the way CNN probably cut away from Laura Bush. I'm tired of this. Is Barack Obama a Muslim or a Christian? Is there going to be a Mosque near Ground Zero? Who cares? Ted Bundy was a Mormon. Does that mean no Mormon Temple should ever be built near a college campus? I don't blame every Muslim for the choices of a few.

I'm home alone tonight, watching "United 93"and "World Trade Center"on DVD. So I went to 7-11 for a diet dr pepper. As I pulled into the parking lot, I had the disrespectful thought that here I was, supporting the Middle Eastern owners of 7-11 on 9-11. Sure enough, the guy behind the counter was of Middle Eastern descent. There was a cute family in front of me in line, and the little 2 year old boy grabbed some candy from the bottom shelf. The Mom and Dad looked at each other, and shook their heads, and I knew they didn't have enough money for the candy. The (Muslim?) guy behind the counter said, "No, get the candy. I'll give you the coffee for free." Ah! And there it is. We are not Muslims or Mormons or Democrats or Republicans. We're humans. With faults and strengths, good and bad. Time to heal.