A Day of Reflection

I didn't comment yesterday about the anniversary of 9/11.  I didn't post on facebook where I was when it happened, and I didn't send out a message of remembrance of those lost.  Instead, I took the day to think about the last nine years - my ups, my downs, where I've been, where I am, where I'm going.  I thought of those who lost their lives in an instance - some in fearful anticipation and some in unknowing oblivion - and I thought about how easily it could have been me - or anyone else.  It doesn't take a terrorist attack for someone to be here in one moment and not in the next.  However, I think it's days like 9/11 that force us to consider our own mortality and vulnerability.  Sometimes it's simply beyond our control...and sometimes we're called to sacrifice...for whatever purpose.

Many lives were lost on 9/11/2001, and many lives have been lost since.  I think one of the most telling things of the war we are still fighting is that a growing number of the soldiers can't tell you where they were on the day of the attacks...because they were just children still happily naive about great tragedy. Yet, they are the ones shouldering the legacy of that day.  They are the ones who are now called to make the sacrifice.  I don't suggest that the cause is not just, but I do think it's time to seek a true resolution so that warriors from yet another generation are not lost to the same terrorists who crashed planes nine years ago.  So on 9/11, I remained silent in regards to that day, and I prayed for peace - just like I prayed for today - just like I'll pray for tomorrow.  I'm not sure how peace will come...or if it will come...but I remain hopeful and faithful...and I remain thankful to those who have sacrificed - whether by intention or circumstance - to preserve this country.  I pray we - politicians and ordinary citizens alike - don't squander the opportunity we've been given.  That would be such a waste.