9/11
A day that will be emblazoned into this generation's brains like the Kennedy assassination and the Atom Bomb dropping were seared into generations previous. A day that changed the character of the past decade. A day in which many were disavowed of the notion that America was eternally and completely "the land of the free": that being here meant you were safe from the outside world. A day we look back on in remembrance, reverence, and caution. Ladies and gentlemen, on a day like today so steeped in history, so pungent with loss, it is important to not let ourselves become stagnant.
Ten years ago, our country suffered a great loss. We lost innocent men and women and symbols of our strength. Now, although these monuments are resurrected, we can never recover our valuable citizenry or the notion that we are somehow unlike everyone else- vulnerable. But instead of being defeated by these wounds, we can let them make us stronger. A loss of innocence doesn't just have to be a calamity: it can awaken you to the totality of life.
So, ten years after that horrible day, I urge you to take a good look at the world around you and the life you lead. While I will never condone the use of terrorism or think a nation deserves to suffer so terribly, the current state of the world and particularly our foreign affairs is a direct result of our nation's own decisions. Whatever you believe politically, I urge you now to not just let 9/11 be a bad memory. I urge you to let it galvanize your deepest potential as a thinker, worker, human being. What you choose to do with your released potential is up to you but that day shadowed some of the very things that made our nation great, and this day can be the turning point in which we recover it. If we want to truly honor those lost, what we can do is choose to uphold the national identity that makes us who we are. We can be strong, resilient, productive, and free.
Well said. :)
ReplyDelete