September 11th

Friends from abroad asked me yesterday, "How are things in New York today? Are you okay?" How were things in New York yesterday? About as one might imagine on the five-year anniversary of the sudden massacre of thousands of innocents within our midst; about as one might imagine, knowing that our television broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, and online news sources ceaselessly inundated us with reminders ranging from the tragic to the infuriating to the ridiculous; about as one might imagine, when ceremonies commemorating the heros of that fateful day are used as merely a backdrop for political manoeuvering and angry protests; about as one might imagine, knowing that we are no safer now than we were then.

An acquaintance of mine seemed not his usual self today. He told me that he had spent yesterday evening watching CNN, and that he was sad and depressed. When I asked what about it, specifically, he was having such a hard time with, his answer surprised me. "I just still can't believe something like that could happen. I can't believe that there are evil people in the world who would do something that horrible." Now, judging as best I can, I believe that I can safely assume that this isn't a man who has lived a particularly sheltered existence, by any measure. Yet, he still finds himself in a state of utter disbelief as to the events of five years ago. I wanted to tell him, "Of course it can happen; it's been happening nearly every day, somewhere in the world, for decades. It's not over. This wasn't a one-time event. There really are people out there who are so sick that they will gladly sacrifice their own lives to murder as many innocent people as they can. There are a lot of them. So find a way to wrap your mind around it, buddy, because you can't fight back if you're too stunned to move." But his eyes were so full of pain, his air so confused and desolate. All I could do was smile sympathetically and instruct him to turn off CNN. "It does no good to dwell on upsetting images; get some sleep tonight."