We Pause..To Listen

The world’s media today is filled with stories remembering the horrific events of September 11, 2001.

As we write this message, television screens are broadcasting simultaneous services of commemoration about what happened that day in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

2,977 people died — tragically, violently, needlessly.

The world changed dramatically that day. Since then, we have felt collectively less safe and more fearful, with deepening cynicism a creation of that day.

And since that day, hundreds more have died from conditions and diseases related to the aftermath of what happened.

As we watch the services—listening to the orations, hearing the heart-stirring songs, feeling the bugles’ power to call us to silent reflection, seeing the tears in the eyes of those who still feel the pain of loss, and being reminded of so many stories of courage and sacrifice—we pause to reflect.

We pause…to listen.

To it all.

To the horror that still lingers.

To the names of those who died on a spectacularly beautiful day.

A day that can never be spectacularly beautiful again for far too many people.

In telling and retelling the stories behind each of those names, together we honor them and their lives. We honor those who continue to grieve and love. We honor a striving for our world to recreate itself to be a more safe, less fearful, and no longer cynical place.

Photo by Lerone Pieters on Unsplash