September 11, 2011

It is inconceivable that ten years have passed since September 11, 2001.  9/11 is one of those landmark days etched into our souls; we remember where we were and how it felt when we heard the news that our country was under attack.

We can't forget the days and weeks and months after that as the rescue efforts turned into long-term recovery of remains.  We heard eyewitness accounts, saw video, and learned the names and faces of people who perished that day.  We grieved for their families, for New Yorkers and for the death of our naive notion that no one would dare to attack us on our home soil.

We will never be the same.  And we shouldn't be.

Evil reared its ugly head that day in New York, and at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field.  Over 3000 people lost their lives and many thousands of other people were devastated by the loss of their loved ones.

In spite of the destruction and unbearable grief, evil did not win that day.  Ten years later, stories are still surfacing about people pulling together that day, working together, caring for each other, getting each other through unbelievable circumstances.

Today, the  “New York Says Thank You” Foundation chooses an important charity project every year.  New York firefighters and other volunteers devote themselves to pay back the help they've been given, and to try to heal a little bit.

Groups like Action America have arisen to turn the events of September 11th into positive action.  They ask “what will you do?” What will we do? How can we help our fellow man today?  How can we use our lives for good, and not just for selfish enjoyment? If we all did just one unselfish thing for someone else today, just imagine the impact it would have on our world.

The legacy of September 11th should not just be fear and sorrow, although we are absolutely entitled to those emotions after what has happened to us.  The lasting legacy can be that we care about each other a little bit more than we did before, and that we do something about it.

We can be upset and sad as we reflect on 9/11, but if we're only upset and sad, then Evil has won.  We have to do something.  What will we do?

The pain inflicted by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 does not have to be suffered in vain.

May God bless our country, and continue to use for good what our Enemy meant for evil on this day ten years ago.

Photo credit: sizeofguam flickr stream

~BigSis