Earlier this morning, I was on Facebook and a sweet man I’ve known for a long time was struggling with this 20th anniversary of September 11th. He sees the turmoil all over this country and what divides us becoming stronger. The truth is, there is great division, anger, hatred and lies mixed with total ambivalence.
Still as we must keep our eyes open to what is “evil” among us, we should never close them to what is good within most of us.
“Doctor, my eyes have seen the years
Jackson Browne Doctor My Eyes
And the slow parade of fears without crying
Now I want to understand I have done all that I could
To see the evil and the good without hiding
You must help me if you can Doctor, my eyes
Tell me what is wrong
Was I unwise to leave them open for so long?”
Twenty years ago, 19 men took control of 4 planes. American Airlines Flight 11 and 77, United Airlines Flight 175 and 93 were carrying crews and passengers thinking about their destinations and what they would do when they got there. 263 passenger and crew members would never get to where they were going. Evil claimed their lives but among them were the passengers and crew on Flight 93 fighting the hijackers and crashing the plane to the ground, sacrificing their lives to save the people in the intended destination, the US Capitol. Good saved the lives of many.
Evil took down the Twin Towers and struck the Pentagon, claiming more lives but as the fires burned, hundreds rushed toward the fires to save lives. Good responded in the hundreds.
Evil set out to kill strangers. Good caused strangers to help strangers.
Evil men died that day, perhaps believing they won. Good responded that day to prove they were wrong. Good responded day after day searching the piles where the towers once stood. They were firefighters and police officers, volunteers, spending day after day doing whatever they could.
Young men and women walked into military recruiting offices to serve this country. Stores were running out of American flags and we managed to overcome the political divide following the election of George Bush. We were united for a while.
Evil continued to strike in the form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It stuck the families left behind when someone they loved died that day. It struck the searchers looking to recover bodies when hope of finding survivors was gone. It stuck people who watched in on TV, as much as it struck those who witnessed it happening. It struck those who served fighting the wars in Afghanistan and later in Iraq. It also hit the veterans of past wars without warning. Good continued to do all they could to help others heal as more and more people were breaking their silence over their own battle to give comfort and hope that no one was beyond healing.
We did not surrender to evil on that day. Good is easier to understand because of the better nature within all of us. While evil may seem more powerful at times, that is only because it is not in our nature to accept it. The majority of us fight against it and that is why it will never win.
Remember, it’s your life…get in and drive it!
#BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife from #PTSD
