This will be my first September 11th here in the realm of NYC. As an outsider, I think on this 6th anniversary of the terror attacks it's worth remembering more than just the victims that were lost...but also worth remembering the raw emotions we felt that day - namely terror. It's easy to gloss over this anniversary by reading the words 'Never Forget' or watching some news footage of a memorial service going on. But when I think back on that day, I remember feeling rage that these faceless cowards had done this, and the unfathomable terror of people literally running for their lives.I looked around the Internet for a good tribute video - which there are plenty. However, so many of them are backed by a sappy song by Jewel or Sarah McLachlan. Now, that's a very nice way to memorialize those we lost - but in my mind it doesn't really portray the way I remember feeling on that day. If this country wants to stay on guard against those who wake each day and plot to kill us - we can't get complacent or lulled to sleep by 'moving on'.
So - I found this piece, which in my mind is worth watching for everyone. Hopefully it will strike a chord (and a raw nerve), and help to truly remember how viciously we were attacked. There's some poignant current stuff at the end - so it's worth a look.
I hate to bring politics into a memorial piece - but I truly think our country is just in taking the fight to our enemies, and blocking those that lust to kill Americans with every breath they take.
The picture below might be the most lasting and haunting memory I have of 9/11. To think that whatever fire and hell was going on in that building, a leap to death seemed like a better option.
And lastly, here's a quote that might be of some interest to the Islamic Fundamentalists out there with a sense of history:
"I fear that all I have done is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve."
--Japanese Admiral Yamamoto after the Pearl Harbor attack, December 7, 1941
And I think we know how that worked out for the Japanese.
6 comments:
Just a point to ponder. At what point do we forgive those who have hurt us?
America has always been a forgiving nation...we're friends with the Germans and the Japanese now. In fact, I think our ability to forgive as a nation is one of the things that separates our conuntry from the rest of the world. However, I don't think you forgive unless someone shows remorse or asks for forgiveness.
As the masked man is stabbing you in the chest and stealing your wallet, do you roll over and say, "I forgive you pal."?
Does forgiving Al-Qaeda prevent this from happening again? Do we cheapen the memories of those who died by letting the perpatrators off the hook?
How many sentences can I type in a row that end in a question mark?
Well...
"Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And the Romans sure were not showing remorse or asking for forgiveness.
When someone wrongs you, what is the better response? To wrong them (an eye for an eye) or to forgive them (grace)? Which one is more powerful? People have different answers to that question, but I believe grace is more powerful. One simple example: The Amish slaying last year. How did those people respond? Check out Olbermann's take on it.
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
Nice quote from the Pulp Fiction bible. How about the real quote from the real Bible...
"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 'Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.'"
From Ezekiel 25. God always has the right to take life, because God is God. We do not have the right to take life because we are not God, and Jesus has not given us the right to take life.
If God is dependent on us carrying out God's will on earth, then that must mean that God is not able to do that, thus, God is not God. If God is God, then God does not need us to carry out God's will, because God is all powerful. This is what separates us from Islam and what, in my opinion, makes our understanding of God all the more powerful.
Did you like how many times I used the word God?
Post a Comment