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September 14, 2006
Reflections on 9/11
On Monday morning, members of the Case community paused for a moment of silence at the Binary Walkway, against a backdrop of 3,000 US flags, planted in memory of the victims of 9/11. Blowing gently in the wind, the small flags that proudly used to symbolize our childlike “love for country” somehow changed. I headed back to my office to begin my daily tasks but knew it would not be business as usual.
As commentators and media outlets began the tireless search for tomorrow’s news items, I quietly reflected on the important lesson 9/11 taught me: the deep human connection we all share. After seeing the horrible images that day five years ago, family was the only word, the only thought, on my mind. I needed a safe corner where everyone and everything was familiar. I desperately wanted to hug my sister and brothers and hear my mother’s reassuring voice say, “Everything’s going to be alright, honey.”
At the time, I was working as an International Student Advisor and felt my students’ anguish at not being able to touch or hug a family member. I had a unique perspective on 9/11, with one part on US soil and the other, an acute global view; answering phone calls from frantic parents in South America, Asia, the UK and the Middle East. We stayed glued to TV/computer screens, watching survivors, completely covered in gray ash, trickling out from the rubble. They were all one color and the message was clear: we are all one race, the human race. These students were innocent and our staff comforted them and each other.
The outpouring of world-wide compassion was emotionally overwhelming and was what we needed as a country, as a community, and as individuals. In that moment, we were united as one against the horrors of hate and intolerance. We realized how truly grateful we were to have family. If we did not have a family, our friends became family and our international neighbors became family as well. We shared that indelible, intangible connection called humanity. We cried from our souls for those who lost their lives that day. We prayed for mercy and guidance. As the incredulity of the scenes flashed across our screens, we all needed a national security blanket, a safe haven, to restore our sense of faith and trust. We needed to make sense of the events that morning: not only here in the US, but overseas as well!
I ponder today, where are we now as a nation five years later? Are we “kinder and gentler?” Have we built a “safer, stronger and better America?” Can we ever find that elusive ideal called peace? I believe we can. The sense of human connection we felt as a global community that terrible day is just beneath the surface. If we dig deep enough we can judge one another by the “content of [our] character” and our mutual strengths.
We all desire to be loved and needed. We hope to make positive contributions to society. We all have a unique journey. These common threads unite us all but we have to move beyond the barriers: cultural differences, dress, religion, accents, and race.
The question we must also now deliberate is where we will be 10, 20 or even 50 years from now. I see misplaced nationalism substituted as patriotism. Civil liberties are stripped away every day and the search for WMDs has shifted to IEDs with very little outcry. How long can we continue to have an “us vs. them” mentality? As Dr. Martin Luther King once said, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
We have to work harder each day to live productive, positive lives and unite as a global community. It can be done but it will come down to every individual choosing to do so.
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Please share your thoughts on this topic. Where were you on 9/11? What activities have you, your school or your community done to commemorate this day? How can we as individuals help unite our global community?
Posted by cxc11 at September 14, 2006 02:29 PM
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