9.12.01
The day after.
When everything fell apart, but remarkably everyone held together.
As a people, as a country.
Everything changed in a way that cannot be formed into words. There is not language for such loss. There is no articulation for such devastation.
There is just tears. Tears that create images and words that come from a deeper place than language can go. Tears that fall freely, but do not cleanse this away.
We cannot cleanse the blood that was spilled. We cannot undo the lost lives, the fatherless children, the motherless babies. We cannot undo the scattered ash of a thousand bodies or the terror of the hours afterward. We cannot go back.
But we must remember.
We must remember those that died. Those that jumped. Those that rushed in when everyone else rushed out. Those that picked up a phone in a burning room and spoke the words that will never be forgotten. Those that called out to God and felt His presence as they stepped between the doorway of here and heaven. And those that waited for the call that did not come. Those who went to sleep in a bed far too empty. Those who have lived with the void that was created.
We must remember that day.
But I want to live in 9-12. A day when it didn't matter what religion you were -- because you prayed anyway. When it didn't matter who your neighbor was- because you went to them and spoke to them. When you called your loved ones and your words were like a waterfall...quenching and unstoppable. When you lived in the moment of not knowing what the future was. Is it your turn next? When will the next plane come? Will it be you this time?
And if so, what do you believe? And who do you love? And what is important?
So live this day as you did THAT day. Give with everything in you. Pray without ceasing. Go out into the world with a profound sense of dedication to unity. Give of yourself. Speak the words that you have kept caged. Live as if it were your last day.
And mostly, love those around you. Give freely of your words and affection. Say the things that must be said.
Do these things for those that died on 9/11. So that their deaths have meaning and purpose that stretch into our world, even today.
