9.11.2001

One year after 9/11: Reflections on the tragedy, its aftermath, and the lessons we must learn from the events of that fateful day.

We all look for consolation, and we seek to console. But the sheer enormity of the evil we just experienced is so hideous, so repellent, we’re left with no words.

This is what a satanic act looks like: Bright, metallic, swinging with ease across the sky, turning with complete mastery of the laws of physics, the laws of life and death, the laws of pain and fear . . .

That night, for the first time in my 26 years in the military, I didn't clean my boots. I have not cleaned then since. When my mission here is completed these boots will be buried

A line was drawn in the sand. On September 11, the line became crude, the divisions crystal clear. But between good and evil are many gradations; both lie within a larger field that unites them. Indeed, if this were not the case, then we on the side of good could have no effect on evil . . .

Fear has infiltrated our lives like a deadly white powder wafting through the soul of America. A seeping dread is slowly filling the space where our hearts used to be. Is there an answer to this fear? Is there some way to still this terror, to reclaim our supplanted hearts?

Why was I witness? Can I possibly understand the purpose of death, pain and suffering? No. But I can choose to learn from it. You are a child of a living, pulsating, compassionate Creator. Do it and live it. Reincarnate the souls of those torn so rudely from us.