Today, I remember

[lord of the mark]

Yes, I will again note the dead. Those who dont want to note the day, because more died elsewhere, on other occasions, are free to not note it.

Yes, I will again note the attack on America. Those who dont want to, because others have been attacked, or cause the US has done wrong, or cause they feel it has been abused, or cause they think of it as a criminal act and therefor not at an attack, are free to not note it.

But mainly, I want to once again note it as a New Yorker, for whom the World Trade Center itself, the buildings and plaza, marked stages in my life. I was a child when I drove with my parents up the west side highway, past a hole in the ground where an old market used to be, and my parents discussed whether this was another Rockefeller folly. I was 12, I guess, when the flag was hoisted over the newly topped out tower by construction workers, in defiance of a Viet Nam era sense of US decline.

When I was 14 my mom and I decided to see NY like tourists, and I went to the top of the WTC for the first time. In High School I went with friends, I took a picture of my friend that made it look like he was holding the other tower (this was before photoshop) We looked down and pointed out our neighborhoods. From the elevated platform where I took the train to school I could see the WTC in the distance. You could see it approaching NY from any direction. When my cousins from California visited I took them there. I got on the PATH train to NJ from there. It was part of that part of my life.


. . .

[LordShiva]

[Pekka]

Remarkable criminal act

remarkable survival of the city

[Lorizael]

The attack, though it had no direct, personal effect on me, changed my life; I didn't realize this at the time. I was a junior in high school and I was experiencing a period of considerable intellectual and spiritual growth.

When the towers fell I thought the world was going to end. I thought this was the beginning of the apocalypse.

This spurred my thinking, opened my eyes. I thought about the world, thought about the condition it was in, and thought that it desperately needed saving.

Arrogantly and egotistically I thought I was the one to do this. I thought that through my mental machinations alone I could devise some plan that would put an end to such suffering and hatred and war. I was wrong, of course, and saving the world is no longer my driving motivation.

But the idea that the world needed saving, that something was terribly wrong with the human civilization, is (part of) what forced me to reconsider a whole lot of things I thought I knew about myself and the world around me.

It is a shame, I suppose, that sometimes it takes the worst possible events in life to force change.

[Cort Haus]

Originally posted by Lorizael
But the idea that the world needed saving, that something was terribly wrong with the human civilization, is (part of) what forced me to reconsider a whole lot of things I thought I knew about myself and the world around me.

I think that's just called 'being young'. [\cynical old git]

[Lorizael]

Sure, but not everyone bothers to grow up.

[Arrian]

I remember it, and care quite a bit about it, but am very tired of the "marking" of it by politicians.

-Arrian

[Asmodean]

OTOH, I can see why Guiliani wants to appear.

And I'm not just talking about the presidential elections. Quite a number of people of whom he was the boss died that day. Elections aside, I see many good and valid reasons for him to want this day marked.

Asmodean

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Lorizael
I thought about the world, thought about the condition it was in, and thought that it desperately needed saving.

Have you ever read "To Mend the World" by Emile Fackenheim?

The notion that there is something wrong with the world, that it needs mending, is not the folly of youth (or at least not that alone) it is a core theme of some very old traditions adhered to by many wise adults (and some not so wise).

As an old fogie, I encourage you to renew that drive to save the world. This is a most appropriate week to do so, and not just because of 9/11.

[Kuciwalker]

I mustve dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
Theyre moving into the street.

Now did you read the news today
They say the dangers gone away
But I can see the fires still alight
There burning into the night.

Theres too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Cant you see
This is a land of confusion.

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.

Ooh superman where are you now
When everythings gone wrong somehow
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour.

This is the time
This is the place
So we look for the future
But theres not much love to go round
Tell me why, this is a land of confusion.

This is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth living in.

I remember long ago -
Ooh when the sun was shining
Yes and the stars were bright
All through the night
And the sound of your laughter
As I held you tight
So long ago -

I wont be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
Were not just making promises
That we know, well never keep.

Too many men
Theres too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go round
Cant you see
This is a land of confusion.

Now this is the world we live in
And these are the hands were given
Use them and lets start trying
To make it a place worth fighting for.

This is the world we live in
And these are the names were given
Stand up and lets start showing
Just where our lives are going to.



Written in 1986. Sigh.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
As an old fogie, I encourage you to renew that drive to save the world. This is a most appropriate week to do so, and not just because of 9/11.

I have different drives now, based on ideas that I feel carry more weight.

And while I understand the significance of this week, my actions are not driven by my heritage. I can judge myself any day.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker

Written in 1986. Sigh.

"It is not yours to complete the work, but neither are you free to refrain from it.

And the work is great, and the day is short, and the workers are lazy, and the reward is much, and the master of the house is impatient"

Pirke Avot, 2:21 (paraphrased a bit)

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Lorizael


I have different drives now, based on ideas that I feel carry more weight.

And while I understand the significance of this week, my actions are not driven by my heritage. I can judge myself any day.

And one who preys the daily prayers, confesses his sins (albeit briefly) three times every day, 365 days a year.

There is nonetheless some power in coming together as a community, not only to judge oneself, but to renew the commitment to the possibility of redeeming the world.

[Kuciwalker]

Which contradicts the bolded lyrics.

xpost

[-Jrabbit]

Much like the Kennedy assassination (I was 10), I will never forget where I was and what I felt during the attack. I watched on live TV and CNN.com, saw the second tower get hit, then saw both towers as they collapsed.

I remember the feeling in the pit of my stomach, the very real sense of falling as I watched the first tower fall. So intense, so surreal...