I am writing from a bench above lower Manhattan as dusk turns to night, and I have never heard New York this quiet. Here is why I filled your inbox all week, and why it is time to move on.
This will bear some thought, and rereading. I am not certain that I am prepared to become a 9/12 person yet, or even if I should. The events of 9/11 and the weeks and months following that day are deeply ingrained in my psyche, the time I spent in New York somewhere between a memory and a scar.
Remembering how we came together as a nation, as a people, should not be put aside or forgotten. Remembering how the rest of the world supported us— I remember meeting not just Canadian rescue teams joining ours, but a French cadaver search team (with the biggest, scariest Alsatian I’ve ever seen!) as well, and there were others I didn’t meet.
What followed— the neoconservatives’s fake evidence that took us into an unnecessary war against a nation that hadn’t attacked ours— brought us in the absolute wrong direction, but what we had for that short period following the worst terrorist attack in our history is worth remembering, worth keeping as part of who we are as individuals, as Americans, and as believing Catholics. So I ask you, is there not a way that we can be both, be people of 9/12 *because* we are people of 9/11?”
Christopher, all your writings this week were so inspiring, thoughtful, and enlightening. As horrible as that day was, no one cared what sex, race, or faith we were. We were one. May we use this day as a reminder of what we can be and live a more Christian life.
Thank you for saying "Unity purchased with an enemy makes you blind." No matter how powerful and desirable revenge is, it is a brutal repetitive loop blocking all new necessary possibilites. I was near the Towers on 9/11 and witnessed one tower collapse .... just crumple down...watching from Washington Square Park.....a special grief will always be with me, however I am so ready for the 9/12/26 generation....Welcome 9/12.
I am a Californian and from that perspective I applaud your comments. And I am deeply moved by the love you express for all who suffered and continue to suffer from the events of that horrible event.
This will bear some thought, and rereading. I am not certain that I am prepared to become a 9/12 person yet, or even if I should. The events of 9/11 and the weeks and months following that day are deeply ingrained in my psyche, the time I spent in New York somewhere between a memory and a scar.
Remembering how we came together as a nation, as a people, should not be put aside or forgotten. Remembering how the rest of the world supported us— I remember meeting not just Canadian rescue teams joining ours, but a French cadaver search team (with the biggest, scariest Alsatian I’ve ever seen!) as well, and there were others I didn’t meet.
What followed— the neoconservatives’s fake evidence that took us into an unnecessary war against a nation that hadn’t attacked ours— brought us in the absolute wrong direction, but what we had for that short period following the worst terrorist attack in our history is worth remembering, worth keeping as part of who we are as individuals, as Americans, and as believing Catholics. So I ask you, is there not a way that we can be both, be people of 9/12 *because* we are people of 9/11?”
Christopher, all your writings this week were so inspiring, thoughtful, and enlightening. As horrible as that day was, no one cared what sex, race, or faith we were. We were one. May we use this day as a reminder of what we can be and live a more Christian life.
Thank you for saying "Unity purchased with an enemy makes you blind." No matter how powerful and desirable revenge is, it is a brutal repetitive loop blocking all new necessary possibilites. I was near the Towers on 9/11 and witnessed one tower collapse .... just crumple down...watching from Washington Square Park.....a special grief will always be with me, however I am so ready for the 9/12/26 generation....Welcome 9/12.
Amen and amen
Order, Disorder, Reorder. It's time.
I am a Californian and from that perspective I applaud your comments. And I am deeply moved by the love you express for all who suffered and continue to suffer from the events of that horrible event.
A very moving piece. 🙏🏻