9-11 Reflections

Together We Are Stronger

 

We are here to awaken

from our illusion of separateness.

                 Thich Nhat Han

                                                         

Today, we are honoring the heroes who gave their lives to save others 20 years ago and to remember all those whose lives were lost. It is a day to reflect on how we can create a future in which we do not have to fear others - one in which we live together peacefully.

I began my day this morning by watching an uplifting video, describing the heroic actions of a young man with a promising future who gave his life on 9-11-2001 by going back up in the tower that was on fire to save others who could not find a way down to safety.

I was filled with an overwhelming sadness that immobilized me for a few minutes, until I brought my attention back to the present. Then I began to reflect on the meaning of the events from 20 years ago, and what messages they have for us today.

The attack on our country was an act of hatred. It triggered a response of fear and a feeling of insecurity in our country, which, for many people, was translated into hatred of anyone who reminded them of the men who attacked our country. This became the fuel for political and military decisions that were motivated by that hate and fear. I will not engage in discussions of our country’s actions as a result. I am more concerned about how the fear and the hatred that followed changed our culture.

The Power of Hate and Fear

Last week, I shared the story of the man who was the first person killed in the wave of thousands of acts of hatred in our country that followed 9/11.  The victims were people who resembled, in some way, the men who attacked our country, as if guilt for a personal action can be spread to all others of a similar religion or country or physical appearance. People who looked like “others” became the enemy.

If you have not read the story of Balbir Singh Sodi, click here to be inspired by his life and how his family has used his death to spread the message of love in the face of hate.

Since 9/11/2001, thousands of our citizens of different religious and ethnic groups been, and continue to be, targets of acts of hatred – based on their appearance of being “not us.” This morning, as I read many reflections of 9/11, I found very few that spoke of the changes that occurred in our culture and our personal lives. Let’s explore that together.

Can you remember a time when we prided ourselves as being able to work together with people whose ideas were different from ours to find common ground on which we could build a better future? In our daily lives, we lived and worked together in harmony most of the time and we worked out differences peacefully.

We still had different ideas of how to create that future, but we knew that we could do it together. We did not see each other as enemies, but fellow citizens with different ideas and approaches. As a country, we seem to have lost that very foundation of our democracy and our sense of union – the realization that we are all in this grand experiment together, with each of us making a valuable contribution.

Today, with so many divisions, it seems that many of us have forgotten our shared humanity. I wonder if that has come because we have lost touch with our own humanity. We seem to have forgotten those things that unite us. We have lost the realization of our kinship.

How do we turn that around?

I ask this, because I sincerely want your ideas on how we can stand against the energy of division and exclusion and hatred that has led us to where we are today. Please share your thoughts at the end of this post, so we can learn from each other’s insights. It is only by coming together that we can create a world that will hold a brighter future. 

I believe the answer must come from within us and express in the way we live our daily lives. We cannot change the way others behave, but we can choose to live in a way that contributes to the creation of a world in which we live peacefully with each other – not just those who are like us, but with all people. We can do that by letting go of our preconceived ideas about others, by being curious enough to want to understand them, and then reaching out to them with kindness. Then, we will learn how much more we have in common than those things that we thought divided us.

This is not an easy transition. It requires us to look honestly at our beliefs and attitudes, and then to find enough love within us to reach out to each  other with curiosity and acceptance. It is ironic that the first man killed as the result of the irrational hatred that followed 9/11 was a man whose entire life was dedicated to love and caring for others. His story demonstrates the insanity of blind hatred.

Are their others whom we judge and exclude, and even support official mistreatment of, because of our uninformed judgments? As a society, we are doing that. As individuals, we can choose another way.

This is an opportunity to take our kindness to the next level - to act with love in unfamiliar encounters. As always, we each decide how we walk our kindness path and when to expand the reach of our love. This part of our journey has unexpected rewards, as we discover the gifts that the people that we had excluded have to offer us, enriching our lives as we enrich theirs.

We all contribute to the unfolding history of our country and our world. Let’s use our part in that unfolding story to come together and to add more love and kindness where it is so desperately needed. We cannot change the whole world, but we have the power to change our lives and those of everyone we meet. 

It is true. We are stronger together than when we are divided.

 

Click here to be inspired by a man of peace.

Click here for the story of “the man in the red bandanna”.

     Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash  

 

Please let us know your thoughts on this message.

We know this is a difficult issue, and we welcome your honest response.

You can leave a comment below.

 

Help us spread the message of kindness.

If you know others who might appreciate these ideas, please share below.

 

We are enjoying this journey with you!

Love from our hearts to yours,

Pat and Larry