I was at work today delivering my route as usual when suddenly I realized today's date. I looked to the calm and peaceful sky in silence, remembering that fateful day three years ago when it seemed that all hell was breaking loose in this country. Time has somewhat diminished the shock and horror that I felt when I heard the news of planes intentionally crashing into The Pentagon and World Trade Center, and of the one plane that crashed without reaching its goal, going down in Somerset County, not far from here. It was a day that would change the lives of all Americans forever. The proud towers that I had once stood atop of were now diminished to rubble from the strain of the crashes. Thousands of innocent lives had been lost. We, the American people, suddenly were made painfully aware that we were vulnerable.
Now, three years later, I ask myself what have we accomplished since that day? Not much, I realize. Osama Bin Laden is still at large. Our president's so-called "War on Terror" has long since been turned away from the real enemy as he uses it for the purposes of his own personal agenda. Airport security has become a nightmare, causing many people to refrain from flying. To date, I have heard of no large scale plans to rebuild the fallen towers. I wonder, have we allowed the terrorists to win?
The terrorists, themselves, I cannot understand. How can they possibly believe that Allah, their god, wanted them to take the lives of so many innocent people? Can I hate them knowing that they believe that their horrific acts were committed in what they believed to be the service of their god? I cannot. I can only pray that they will somehow manage to see the truth and beauty of the words written in the Koran, rather than the perverted message of hatred that certain radical fundamentalist Muslims have allowed them to become.
Fear not the evil that men do in the name of evil. Fear that which they do in the name of God.
The hatred must stop!
Perhaps we all need to ponder these words from The Scorpions' Under The Same Sun...
Sometimes I think I'm going mad We're losing all we had And no one seems to care But in my heart it doesn't change We've got to rearrange And bring our world some love
And does it really matter If there's a heaven up above We sure could use some love
'Cause we all live under the same sun We all walk under the same moon Then why, why can't we live as one 'Cause we all live under the same sky We all look up at the same stars Then why, tell me why can't we live as one
