Learning from
September 11
We can turn tragedy into something positive
Like
most, I remember exactly where I was on September 11, 2001; in my
case, home on my boat. I was moved to write, like so many, and I was
pleasantly surprised to discover I still believe
everything I wrote on that deadly day.
Having some time
clean and sober didn't lessen my shock, nor make me immune from
feelings of vulnerability. Having faith, however, has made a
tremendous difference.
First of all, I didn't need
to be alone. I was able to plug into a network of people, online, on the phone,
and face-to-face who know me and supported me as I was able to support them.
Good can come from bad
My beliefs and experience
mean that I know good can come from bad. It makes no difference if I can
see how, or when the good will come, I know it can. We saw some of that
potential in the heroism shown by so many at and near ground zero.
All over the country
people who knew nothing about Islam went to local mosques to show they knew they
couldn't tar a whole group with the actions of a few fundamentalists. New
friendships and understandings were born.
Refuse to live in fear
Others
are refusing to live in fear and demanding we don't give up our freedoms for the
illusion of safety. Some interesting sites about protection and civil rights
include:
I am convinced
that terrorism will continue to be a threat until some of the world-'round
inequities are solved. For example, at least 1 billion of the people on the
planet do NOT have safe drinking water. (WaterWoes).
According to the Hunger
Site (go there and simply click to give food), seven million are at
immediate risk of starvation in southern Africa.
People
who watch their children starve or die from polluted water become angry people,
people capable of suicide bombing; people who have enough to eat, relative
safety, a voice in what happens to them and a way to get ahead are much less
likely to wreck the kind of havoc we've seen here and elsewhere in the world.
I
don't know the total answer, but every time we help, with a click or a check or
a prayer or a letter to to our leaders, we improve, if only slightly, the odds
for peace.
Love, peace and
abundance,
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