In the decade since 9/11, the country has in many ways reacted the way a single family would have if their beloved home had been attacked and destroyed and members of their family brutally killed, the family's nerves and fortunes stretched to never-before-considered breaking points.
And each day since had been a struggle to compensate for the horrendous loss of psychological and physical security, a painful attempt to cope in their forever altered world.
The combination of post traumatic stress and subsequent mourning, along with the efforts to rebuild all that was physically and emotionally lost, had left the family deeply disturbed, its waking days desperate and prone to rage, its sleep drenched with horrific images both real and imagined, and both states defined by a deep, relentless ache for what was.
And impacted by that event, the family's awareness is now enhanced by the certainty that their future -- like their past -- is similarly vulnerable and so are therefore absolutely justified in investing much of their time and attention toward preventing any future assault.
The family's righteous anger and fear becomes the foundation of its discourse with other equally angry and fearful families; distrust and wariness becomes the basis of relationships with strangers and is even inserted into previously established relationships with friends. The attitudes they had once enjoyed, ones in which wisdom, mercy and trust were mainstays, had now become quaint relics and summarily discarded.
And since that day it seemed so many of the family's actions have been solely defined by what it lost a decade ago with little attempt made to move the family away from the darkness that permeates its behavior, the family having become almost comfortable in this perpetual state of discomfort.
What was once the anomaly had now become the norm.
The very idea, in fact, of reinvigorating the family's lost sense of decency, even in a world perceived as indecent, was deemed a threat.
And indeed, such a thing would seem impossible, given the searing lesson of that attack imparted ten years ago, pain which can never stop reverberating through the sympathetic stands of memory.
And yet reclaiming that sense of decency, wisdom and mercy in an indecent, uncaring and merciless world is exactly what the family must now attempt to do.
In Robert Kennedy's famous speech where he revealed to a waiting crowd that Martin Luther King had been murdered, the presidential candidate proffered a solution to the accruing problem of violence and division, the very things which would take his own life shortly afterward: "What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country... to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world".
Kennedy's preternatural eloquence is the first thing one discerns, but it is the crowd's response which becomes the more fascinating component at that moment of horrifying divulgence.
There is of course the sharp cry at hearing the news of King's assassination. But when Kennedy councils civility in what was now surely an uncivil place and time, there is an audible moment of surprise which evolves into brief tentativeness and the audience swiftly embraces Kennedy's gentle entreaty for wisdom to staunch the madness which would otherwise flow when met with equal rage, no matter how righteous.
This simplistic analogy is not meant in any way to call for anything less than vigilance against the terrorism which has impacted all our lives as Americans. It is only meant to express the idea that our nation's greatness lay not in its ability to rattle a saber and wage war but in its unique commitment to wield its more precious capabilities to wage a just and prudent peace, both domestically and globally. The horror of 9/11 made that difficult to remember let alone sustain. But it's all too easy to become comfortable in a society now defined by retribution, to seek easy answers in low places when so challenged.
The founders of this country, as well as the various great men and women whose words have enriched its life, have all encouraged their fellow citizens to make the effort, however daunting, to raise the level of existence in this society to one above base reaction, to value the lessons of its history, to gradually create a place where liberty is not only secured through vigilance, but where it is valued and enjoyed by all wisely and sensitively.
And for a family -- or a nation -- devastated by tragedy and violence, that is the only way back home.
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It's so very sad Steven that this defining moment where we all were in this together was hijacked by posturing, politics and incompetence. Defies belief on some levels. Now 9/11 is used as a political ploy (until it comes time to pay homage or help those who sacrificed and then it's: "What 9/11?"). I can't believe we've become this crass at times, but we have. This family is feuding and the lines are drawn. And I'm so sorry to say it's going to take a lot to get us all to a family reunion. But I AM an optimist (which will shock most of my friends) and believe the dreams of our founding fathers will ultimately work out. But it's going to take a lot of work.
Very disturbing is the way a certain broadcaster has managed to distort the Constitution and the dreams and ideals of the founding fathers, poisoning the minds of an entire group of individuals that are now controlling the DC agenda.
Mentioning that person's name often seems guaranteed to prevent getting posted, so I'll avoid it.
People who have probably never read the Constitution, now fancy themselves Constitutional scholars. Working relentlessly against themselves, and for the wealthy and corporations.
The most insidious new developement, is the current drive to convince religious people, that charity, one of the founding tenets of their religions, is "socialist" and to be avoided.
One fanatical religious leader of an extremist sect, has denouced a well-known female talk show host who's philanthropy is legend, of being in league with the anti-christ. Good grief!
And a leading Republican candidate is an associate of this man and his corrupt rhetoric.
Rallying folks to use their own government to fight against themselves, and attempting to talk religious folks into turning their backs on one of the bedrock tenets of their faith, is a plot so dasterdly diabolical you'd think only Hollywood could come up with it.
Yep, it's gonna take a lot of work indeed to get this family reunion going, but it must be done for all our sakes. Whew, what a mess we're in...
That anyone can dish snark at this masterfully-crafted analogy is simply beyond my ken...
Very moving.
Let the healing, at long last, begin.
The man who had abandoned a rich "western decadence" playboy lifestyle, to work with and be trained by our very own military as a pawn in our "Cold War" against the Soviets.
Where he learned the value of using limited forces, to draw one's enemy into a quagmire of endless firefights in lonely far-from-home desolate mountain valleys.
He knew us, didn't he?
And so with a patience his enemy did not possess, and a suicidal determination his foe could little comprehend, he plotted. Waited.
Waited for the perfect time to unleash his holy war against the West, by attacking what he saw as the very symbols of it's "decadence." Financial icons. Military icons. Government icons.
With no regard for innocent life, he sent his "army" of 19, unleashing unspeakable horror.
But that horror was only the beginning of the plot. To finish off his foe, he needed our help.
Needed us to forget our values. Lose our senses. Needed us to panic. It's what terrorists do.
Did he win? He sleeps with the fishes, but his victory seems all but complete, unless...
Unless we reach out to one another, and vow to fight the real axis of evil in this nation: Poverty. Unemployment and wealth inequality.
If we can win THAT war, we can show that infamous diabolical criminal, from whatever perch in Hades he now occupies, that he didn't really know us at all.
And this statement perfectly demonstrates a complete lack of common sense. What good would it be to help the poor, create jobs... strengthen the economy so people can work themselves out of poverty... if just one more attack like 9/11 or worse, will completely wipe out all that effort made and set us back even further than we've been already??? To not identify a TRUE intentional evil, an evil that proved itself so well in one single day, and instead use the tragedy to blame the opposing political party for the problems of our country and the world, is incredible.. This assertion, to focus on the "real evil" is akin to being inside a burning building and instead of focusing on getting out, people stay where they are and tend to each other's "suffering".. their injuries/ cuts and bruises. They'll be nicely bandaged up only to die in the fire. Makes no sense.
Yeah, I know, kams. That would just be a waste, right? Better to just keep blowing all of our resources on being terrorized. Building a bigger bed to hide under, or bullet-proof sheets to pull over our heads.
With a comment like the one above, dear kams, you have proven yourself to be completely out of touch with any reality I'm aware of, and that the reality you've created for yourself is a very scary place. Pardon me if I pass on joining you there.
Family? No. I'd say we were at least 4 feuding clans with another clan of plantation owners who profit from the whole thing. I don't like this but I don't see any way in the world to change it.
Respect for life. So very carefully things proceed. It's an experience that keeps one very much focused on the present, as uncomfortable uncertainty is certainly present as well.
As another has posted--healing is the priority--and of course, that is the purpose of a hospital--and also of course, we are not a hospital.... " Still, "take away the despair" one commenter wrote. Yes. And let's dispense with the vain and superfluous stuff. We all know what it is by now and the distraction makes us miserable, not engaged, open, or, free.
"sigh"... "Wings"
I tried 2 hours ago to post this:
swoon
perhaps now that I've framed it with a lot of useless verbiage it will pass muster.