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waiting for God |
Memorial at Shanksville Flight 93:
Engineering Ground Zero: film
about the construction of the memorial at the
footprint of the two towers. Watch on Nova HERE.
In the Heart of My Home has a discussion of children's books about 9/11...e.g., "The book is a gentle re-telling. Our children are surrounded every day by references to the horror that forever changed our world. They will ask what "9/11" means and they surely deserve to be answered. But, they should not see that footage and they should not be bombarded with remembrances more appropriate for
grief-stricken, terrorized adults. Childhood is all too brief. Very soon, they will be old enough to learn the details of the day. For now,
this book tells them a story of hope amidst the charred ruins. A story we all need to hear..."
A worker finds a child's toy in the rubble. A photographer's film curls with heat
that day. It seems to me it is the little things people have remembered.
It is hard to say what a decade is suppose to feel like; to a 40 year-old a fifth of one's life passes in the next ten years; for a ten-year old, half of their life has been shadowed by a weird reality-- that incomprehensible hatred is planning in the dark.
How shall i respond to evil?
Political use of the tragedy or the
strange fanaticism of
those who celebrated the death of innocent humans i might discuss later. For me now, it is
finding small stories of families, and how lives changed in wonderful ways later, as the searing pain lessened. It is clear the anniversary has provoked many to re-examine the event, such as this young man's thoughts
HERE.
there are a number of sites which have
posted timelines and collected the startling images:
For me, the most heartwrenching images are those
of victims who jumped from the towers. Below is a video in tribute to them. (ponder and learn about yourself...)
Reaction to these victims was prominent in the recently released
Frontline special about
Faith, God, and 9/11
(here) -[excerpts at end of post]
*.
One commenter in the epilogue of this program was deeply moved by the couple who jumped from the burning tower together.
Hand in hand they jumped, and the eloquent meanings he ascribed to the act-- that they were not alone at the end, that in the face of pain and death they found each other, clasped hands, a last act of love in the face of hate--well, although it is very hard, and has
some
stunning information--
read his short essay HERE.
September 11 had a deep impact on me. I was traveling on the East Coast at the time. I presume we all have our transformative inner experiences from this event; the anniversary has rekindled some quiet embers as it may have for you as well.
more image collections:
http://youtu.be/z_eefRW2AMI
http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/gallery/
http://www.september11news.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHTzb5w37Bk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAk4byX1FOw&feature=related
It is impossible to describe
the consequenses.
The
sadness years down the road.
As the anniversary approaches, all the media have begun tributes.
e.g., from CBS: "Never-before-seen 9/11 photos on display in NYC:
Former police detective John Botte joined a special security detail at ground zero with his camera on Sept. 11, 2001. Botte speaks about his photos, which are now on exhibit at the Morrison Hotel Gallery in NYC." Read more of this story:
HERE
More pictures and summary
HERE
* "...yet even the non-God image can be smashed, because the outpouring of kindness, simple acts of kindness, challenged a lot of people who thought you can't really believe in anything. They felt caught up in something that was bigger than just their neighbor or themselves doing an act of kindness. They really glimpsed something different. So you could have your image of all-good God smashed or you could have your image of there being no God smashed. The door is flung open. Then the question is, can one go through the door?
Anybody who tried to go on with a religious life will sooner or later come to a point where all their pictures of God are smashed, because they're too tiny. ... This has been written about by St. John of the Cross as "the dark night of the soul." It's been written about by Terese of Avila as "the period of aridity." ... It's typical for the religious life, to be plunged into not knowing. ...
One of the hardest things about the
Sept. 11 attacks is that people were just shoved into a place of spiritual crisis.
They're suddenly at the head of the line: Do you believe in anything? Do you care about anything? Where does meaning come from? Is the abyss of love stronger than the abyss of death? Is there any resurrection? How can I bear to even imagine being trapped in that building? I cannot go down. Will I be burned up? Will I be hurled out the window? Will I jump out the window? How can the person I love -- who was incinerated, jumped out a window, thrown out a window, crashed in a plane -- how can their last minutes be redeemed? How can I bear what they've suffered? Was God with them? Was God not with them? ..."
Read more: here
and
another
"...A third possible reason
that God is letting evil occur... God is not stopping people from exercising their free will. Think about this: If someone said that God should stop evil and suffering, then should God then stop all evil and suffering? If God only stopped some of it, then we would still be asking the same question of why it exists.
So, if we want God to stop evil and suffering, then God must stop all of it. We have no problem with this when it means stopping a catastrophe, or a murder, or a rape.
But what about when someone thinks of something evil? Evil is destructive whether it is acted out or not. Hatred and bigotry in someone’s heart is wrong. If it is wrong, and if God is to stop all evil, then God must stop that person from thinking his own thoughts.
To do that, God must remove his freedom of thought. Furthermore, which person on the earth has
not thought something evil?
God would be required, then, to stop all people from exercising their free will. This is something God has chosen not to do. Therefore, we could say that one of the reasons that God permits evil and suffering is because of man’s free will.
Fourth, it is quite possible that God uses the suffering to do good..."
Assouline Publishing commemorates the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with
Art for Heart: Remember 9/11. The book is a collection of drawings by young children; proceeds donated to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
* "A San Francisco husband slept through his wife's call from the World Trade Center. The tower was burning around her, and she was speaking on her mobile phone. She left her last message to him on the answering machine. A TV station played it to us, while it showed the husband standing there listening. Somehow, he was able to bear hearing it again. We heard her tell him through her sobbing that there was no escape for her. The building was on fire and there was no way down the stairs. She was calling to say goodbye. There was really only one thing for her to say, those three words that all the terrible art, the worst pop songs and movies, the most seductive lies, can somehow never cheapen. I love you.
She said it over and again before the line went dead. And that is what
they were all saying down their phones, from the hijacked planes and the burning towers. There is only love, and then oblivion. Love was all they had to set against the hatred of their murderers."