Today commemorates a day in our storied history marred by an array and intensity of emotions unlike any other. 19 years ago, death violently greeted the souls of almost 3000 people. People of all ethnicities, socioeconomic levels and religions were tragically affected…people who on that day, were first and foremost Americans before anything else. Men lost their lives as the towers fell…women’s lives were taken from them as planes crashed…even a number of children succumbed to the debased outcome of a sadistic act well beyond their comprehension or their deserving. Their screams fell silent.
But that day, heroism rose from the twisted shards of metal as neighbor helped neighbor, willfully endangering and sacrificing themselves in an effort to save others they didn’t even know. Firefighters and police officers did everything in their power to allow people to make it back home to their loved ones even as they were taken from their own.
That day, political leanings didn’t matter…religious views were irrelevant…our “rights” were no longer important as we watched the young help the old and the old help the young, exerting valiant efforts that all too often ended in cataclysmic loss, but were never, ever exerted in vain.
That day, countless tears were shed as millions were enthralled by the images and sounds pouring from TVs and radios. Work stopped as did our hearts and collective breath while we watched the inconceivable chaos over and over again, trying to convince ourselves of its reality. Rage, grief, anger and sadness emerged from the shadows of our hearts, making their presence known through our own weeping and cries for Providential mercy, even while clutching our own loved ones and finding our way back to church. We were forever changed.
That day, even if only for a little while my friends, we were truly the UNITED States of America.
I hope and I pray the feelings these words have rekindled in you and in me will prompt us all to stop arguing and being offended long enough to put down our searing weapons of criticism and superficial pursuits, that we may stoop down and pick up the burned and bloodied gauntlet that fell from the hands of those whose lives taught us so much more than political causes and pharisaical arguments ever will…how to once again be UNITED as one nation under God.
Landon <><
