I remember September 11, 2001. It was a Tuesday, and I was at work, at my day-job as an administrator for a church. It was the second Tuesday in the month, and thus "Senior Luncheon" day, and we were beginning to be swamped by incoming senior citizens when one of them brought news of the attack. Almost simultaneously, the phone started to ring as people were calling in to report the tragedy, and to check on various members of our congregation who were supposed to be traveling. The remarkable thing is that, for a congregation that had as many people who did travel, no one was on one of the hijacked planes. There were people en route to California, and people who were supposed to have been on those planes, but who weren't for a variety of reasons. We were the unscathed.
It was a sobering day. At first glance, the news was garbled, and it seemed as if the first strike was an accident. No one was getting good info to us. People were too upset, and this from the generation that had served in the "war to end all wars." As the news became more plain, and we knew that we were the victims of a heinous attack, the world stood still, and everything changed. I ceased to feel even the little bit of safety that I'd once felt, and the next few days were so quiet. There were no contrails as air traffic ceased, and people made their way home from trips that had been halted. My husband was profiled and stopped in Brookline when we were there for my voice lesson, because we'd been on Cape Cod just prior to the attack, and he was dark, bearded, and very tanned. I was just glad he was there with me, so glad.
It seems to me as if the horror of that event started a cascade of horrific events, some caused by people, others by nature, as if nature is rebelling at the blood seeping into her soil. Yet, there has always been blood-seeped soil, and this is nothing new. There has always been war, turmoil, hatred, and fear. We have been so lucky that it hasn't, for the most part, been our own blood-soaked soil.
As a musician, albeit a rather less well-known, skilled or even artistic one, I find the world we live in demoralizing and disturbing. What do we see around us? Yes, there are good things, but for every good thing, I see greed, poverty, fear, hatred and despair. What, really, have we learned from 9/11?
I hope that we have learned that we are not impervious. I hope we've come to understand that, despite having been slapped down and beaten up, despite having been wounded and abused, we need to respond with the only thing that makes sense: senseless acts of beauty and kindness. We need to quell our righteous anger, and steady our shaking hands. With throats swollen with tears, we need to sing, first tentatively, then with more assurance. We need to sing the words that mean "forgive," and "live."
And we need to stand up against all that is wrong and evil, no matter where we see it, be it in the large sense of 9/11, or be it in our daily lives, when someone bullies us or those we love. Standing up can be as simple as just saying "no more," and walking away, or more complex, but providing aid to the victims of those who are harmed. Standing up is not retaliation.
The things that have stood in my heart since 9/11 are simple: Love those we love with a fierceness that cannot be misunderstood as complacency; Give what we can to those in need, so they never have to feel the need to rise up in frustration; Forgive; and stand up for justice, and kindness.
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