ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
So it’s been one year. And when the last commentator has spoken his piece, when the final witness, victim and expert has been interviewed, when every moment of that terrible day has been replayed, reviewed and relived on this anniversary day-what, finally, will we have learned in the 12 months since 9-11? How have we changed? How do we see ourselves and our world?
I keep coming back to one word: vulnerable. Maybe if nothing else, we realize we aren’t immune from the senseless violence that explodes daily in numerous corners of our world. The Stars & Stripes are a comfort, but not a shield. We have no greater divine right to personal safety than any other citizen of the Earth. Our blood and our tears are like anyone else’s. So very painful.
If this is what we’ve learned, then the greater question is: How shall we then live? As cowards without hope? Hedonists without conscience? Or as brothers and sisters who seize each day as treasure shared? -DR
