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Friends,
It's a beautiful, crisp fall day in Connecticut, eerily reminiscent of that day nine years ago when nearly 3,000 of our brothers and sisters perished in shocking attacks.
I was in lower Manhattan that day, and will never forget the scenes of ash, debris, fluttering papers, and shocked first responders realizing how many of their colleagues had been swallowed in the collapse of the towers.
I also remember the questions. That night, as I walked through the ankle-deep debris, making my way north, the questions came in a torrent. How could this have happened? Why would someone do this? Why did some perish while we survived? How could a powerful and benevolent God allow such a thing to occur to people guilty of nothing but showing up to earn their daily bread?
There are no adequate answers to those questions. There is rarely meaning in the brutality that the evil visit on the innocent. But I'm convinced that we can extract some meaning from that horrible day.
First, we can acknowledge, remember, and support those who put on uniforms every day to protect us from tragedy. The blue uniforms of our police, firefighters, and first responders and the uniforms of our warriors engaged in harm's way bespeak the promise that their wearers
make to us to substitute their lives for ours. That imposes on the rest of us a debt we cannot hope to repay.
Second, we can and should recall the unity we felt that day. Stripped of all certainty, every one of us sought connection, community, and perhaps the grace of the Divine. Men and women risked their lives to save perfect strangers, neighbors came together to feed people, give
them shelter, help them mourn. People held vigils and organized volunteer efforts around the country, praying and weeping for those they had never--and would never--meet.
I hope that as we look back today, we also look forward, recalling that sense of common purpose in order to renew our commitment to the fundamental values that define us and that unite us in a way more fundamental than any of our circumstances, creeds, or characteristics
divide us.
I hope you will consider taking part in one of the memorial events today in New York City, Connecticut, or elsewhere. Share your story with friends and family or via Twitter (mark your message with #on911). Find a local service project or participate in this second 9/11 National Day of Service by visiting http://www.911dayofservice.org/.
All my best,
Jim
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