In Memoriam Of 911
In Memoriam Of 911
I try to avoid emotionally charged situations that would make me tear-up… it is why I still cannot watch all of that movie. Black-Hawk-Down because I know no matter where I am, the tears would be flowing were I to see that scene where the soldier’s body is being dragged and desecrated. However, there are times I do not care where I am or in whose presence I am in, when I do not mind tearing up: this happens all the time in my church when they sing certain songs honoring the Christ; and this morning, as I sat in my living room watching young children, who do not know their parents who died in the Trade Centers, read their names off that iconic list. I especially was moved when the young ladies, whose fathers never held them in their arms, took to the podium to read their respective father’s names.
Many of you have heard how New Yorkers changed because of the advent of 911, especially in the area of common, mannerly courtesy. I remembered when I got married and my better half and I were walking from the Limo, there were New Yorkers shouting, ‘it is not going to last.’ Moreover, believe it or not, there are some New Yorkers who would look up at would be suicide jumpers… encouraging them to jump and take their lives. I am not going to speak in absolutes on this issue by implying that this type of behavior no longer happens in the Big Apple after 911, but there was a drastic drop in that type of incivility after 911. I do not know what it says about us that we need such a tragedy, like 911, to make us act like civilize human beings, but I am not going to look this gift horse in the mouth.
Today, I also celebrate the resolve of America to fight those who would do us harm. As a Traditional Christian, it is rather difficult to turn the other cheek in these wanton blood-letting times, as commanded by the Christ, but I also know that He also inspired the Apostle Paul to write that we must live among those who would do us harm, as long we could bear to. With that in mind, I thank God that there were no recriminations against innocent Muslims who reside here in New York and elsewhere, notwithstanding the fact that I believe that many Muslims are still too taciturn when violence is done in their God’s name. No matter how much our enemies try to bring us down, America is still ‘the’ beacon of freedom and opportunity… and I for one is still fawning over her… knowing that she will always be the best the world has to offer, at least until Jesus Christ sets up his throne in Jerusalem.
