Reflections on 9/11

When we are young we really believe that someday we will be able to change the world. Over time our vision becomes a little more practical, a little more sensible, a little less vital, a little less interesting. What happens to our dreams so steeped in potential?

On September 11, a group or terrorists set out to change the world, packing box cutters and sentence prayers in their personal belongings, they in a misguided mission set off to change the world.

I know my world changed as I watched and listened. People were dying before my eyes on American soil. I wasn't safe anymore. I succumbed to the temptation to patriotism and a desire for revenge. "Something must be done," I thought. Maybe I should have defined more clearly what that something should or shouldn't be. A sense of insecurity crept into my life and the lives of others that day as the safest, richest country in the world tried to deal with being a victim.

So five years laters the world is a different place thanks to a few men who set out to change it, having learned as children that it is possible to change the world. Now we have chosen to live in this less than brave new world--a world of hate, fear, condemnation, violence and retaliation. Who said a few people can't change the world?

9/11 hold many lessons, not the least of which is that a few men and women can change the world--those plane pilots certainly rocked ours. So don't give up your childlike belief that the world can be a better place because of what you say and do. We all have a chance to change the world--for better or for worse.

Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." "You are a city on a hill." The world is looking at us. Will we be a people of darkness or a people of light? Is it possible to change the world? Yes. Is it possible to change the world into a more loving, peaceful, forgiving, generous place where citizens of diverse nations can learn not to fear each other? You tell me!

As for me, I am ready to try and be a little less practical, a lot more interesting, a little less sensible, and a lot more vital, and a lot more convinced that I can help change the world. Won't you join me?

p lou