I thought we should have a place where we could share our thoughts, prayers, grief and hope about what has happened in New York, Washington DC and the rest of America over the last few days. I know that I lost a little more of my innocence during this craziness. I felt an incredible sense of disbelief, anger, sadness, loss and horror at the senseless act of violence that all of us witnessed over and over on television, (and some who were actually there.) I have also been moved by the compassion and love of so many people who have been willing to reach out and help their neighbors. When it comes right down to it, the evil that certain groups feel is inherent in the United States, is overwhelmed by the goodness that is always there, but seldom noticed because it is just not as sensational. The world knows no greater love than he (or she) who would lay down their life for their brother (or sister.) I know we will all get through this, but I doubt if any of us will ever be the same.

A prayer ...for all those innocent people who disappeared and for us... because we have the duty to go on. Nothing will ever be the same... but we can't give up hope on love, the greatest feeling of all, our strenght.

We'll go forward from this moment
It's my job to have something to say.
They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.

Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.

Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.


IN PAIN

Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.


THE STEEL IN US

You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

Leonard Pitts Jr.
Miami Herald

Couldn't have said it better myself, Leonard. - Traveller

I grieve for those who have been lost, and those who will be lost in the coming times.

I posted this Palsm 91 on Tir on Tuesday evening.. I now put it here .. to bring comfort to all who have lost loved ones and to all my friends across the United States( especially those in New York city and Washington DC) and through out the world ...GOD BLESS AMERCIA...

I dwell in the secret place of the Most High so I abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust."

Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover me with His feathers, and under His wings I shall take refuge; His truth shall be my shield and buckler.

I shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at my side, and ten thousand at my right hand; but it shall not come near me.

Only with my eyes shall I look, and see the reward of the wicked.

Because I have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, my habitation,

No evil shall befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling;

For He shall give His angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways.

They shall bear me up in their hands, lest I dash my foot against a stone.

I shall tread upon the lion and the copa, the young lion and the serpent I shall trample under foot.

Because I have set my love upon Him, therefore He will deliver me; He will set me on high, because I have known His name.

I shall call upon Him, and He will answer me; He will be with me in trouble; He will deliver me and honor me.

With long life He will satisfy me, and show me His salvation.

BEANNACHT
(Blessing)

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the gray window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colors,
indigo, red, green
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the curach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

From "Anam Cara" by John O'Donohue

Dear Cowardly Terrorist(s):

Never underestimate the power of Democracy.

Wun

A warrior's death demand's Honor

A family member's death: Rememberance

An innocent's Death: Justice

Those who were lost were family to all of us therfore they deserve rememberance, They unwittingly became casualties of war, therefore they deserve the same honor due a warrior, They were all innocent, and they deserve Justice!!!

To those guilty of these unspeakable acts, it would be better that you had never been born. You have not incurred just the wrath of America, but of every civilized nation in the world.

Thirty one Countries had businesses located in the WTC, according to some of the news reports I have read. This was not an attack on America alone, but an attack on thirty-one countries, specifically, and the world in general.

open letter to a terrorist:

Well, you hit the World Trade Center, but you missed America. You hit the
Pentagon, but you missed America. You used helpless American bodies, to take
out other American bodies, but like a poor marksman, you STILL missed
America.
Why? Because of something you guys will never understand. America isn't
about a building or two, not about financial centers, not about military
centers, America isn't about a place, America isn't even about a bunch of
bodies.
America is about an IDEA. An idea, that you can go someplace where you can
earn as much as you can figure out how to, live for the most part, like you
envisioned living, and pursue Happiness. (No guarantees that you'll reach
it, but you can sure try!)
Go ahead and whine your terrorist whine, and chant your terrorist litany:
"If you can not see my point, then feel my pain." This concept is alien to
Americans. We live in a country where we don't have to see your point. But
you're free to have one. We don't have to listen to your speech. But you're
free to say one. Don't know where you got the strange idea that everyone has
to agree with you. We don't agree with each other in this country, almost as
a matter of pride. We're a collection of guys that don't agree, called
States.
We united our individual states to protect ourselves from tyranny in the
world. Another idea, we made up on the spot. You CAN make it up as you
go, when it's your country.
If you're free enough.

Yeah, we're fat, sloppy, easy-going goofs most of the time. That's an
unfortunate image to project to the world, but it comes of feeling free
and easy about the world you live in. It's unfortunate too, because people
start to forget that when you attack Americans, they tend to fight like a
cornered badger. The first we knew of the War of 1812, was when England
burned Washington D.C. to the ground. Didn't turn out like England thought
it was going to, and it's not going to turn out like you think, either.
Sorry, but you're not the first bully on our shores, just the most recent.

No Marquis of Queensbury rules for Americans, either. We were the FIRST
and so far, only country in the world to use nuclear weapons in anger.
Horrific idea, nowadays? News for you bucko, it was back then too, but we
used it anyway.
Only had two of them in the whole world and we used 'em both. Grandpa
Jones worked on the Manhattan Project. Told me once, that right up until
they threw the switch, the physicists were still arguing over whether the
Uranium alone would fission, or whether it would start a fissioning chain
reaction that would eat everything. But they threw the switch anyway,
because we had a War to win. Does that tell you something about American
Resolve?

So who just declared War on us? It would be nice to point to some real
estate, like the good old days. Unfortunately, we're probably at war with
random camps, in far-flung places. Who think they're safe. Just like the
Barbary Pirates did, IIRC. Better start sleeping with one eye open.

There's a spirit that tends to take over people who come to this country,
looking for opportunity, looking for liberty, looking for freedom. Even if
they misuse it. The Marielistas that Castro emptied
out of his prisons, were overjoyed to find out how much freedom there was.
First thing they did when they hit our shores, was run out and buy guns. The
ones that didn't end up dead, ended up in prisons. It was a big PITA then
(especially in south Florida), but you're only the newest PITA, not the
first.
You guys seem to be incapable of understanding that we don't live in
America, America lives in US! American Spirit is what it's called. And
killing a few thousand of us, or a few million of us, won't change it. Most
of the time, it's a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of Spirit. Until we're
crossed in a cowardly manner, then it becomes an entirely different kind of
Spirit.

Wait until you see what we do with that Spirit, this time.

Sleep tight, if you can. We're coming

To A Terrorist

So it begins
The dance of death
Your choices
Have unleashed
A rage
Hotter
Then a worst imagined hell
It comes
To eat
Your soul

The terorist is evil, but you are not. Do not let their evil dictate your hearts.

"GOD MAY HAVE MERCY ON YOU, BUT WE WON'T!.
....United States senator John McCain, sending a message to all terrorists'.

"To those Americans now terrorising Americans of Mid-East descent: bin Laden is laughing at your sheer stupidity AND appreciates your help.

UNITED we stand, divided we fall!"

me
9/14/01

I fail to feel the anger many people have expressed. I just feel deep sorrow...for the parents...the spouses...the children...the friends of those innocent people killed in these attacks. I've imagined myself being in the second building...watching the smoke from the first....then looking up to see the cockpit of a plane heading towards my office windows....and not having one last chance to say "I love you" to my family. Very sad.

I also cannot understand the misdirected hate being expressed towards Arab-Americans, many of them born in the United States. We did not treat the Japanese and German-Americans fairly during the Second World War. Why should these people, today, suffer for the actions of a few suicidal, maniacal fanatics.

My heart and prayers go out to the families of all those affected by this.

*stands with head pressed to the Wall, against which raindrops begin to spatter from the darkening clouds overhead*

Friday was a day of mourning in Ireland.
I used the day to build a small site dealing with an aspect of the aftermath.
http://www.alia.ie/finalstraw

When I read about the Anti-Arab frenzy, I hang my head in shame, While we are condemning hatred and violence for the sake of hatred, some of us are following the same path, as those who carried out the attack.

Should the guilty be rounded up and punished, as we say in the Southern United States, not just yes, but HELL YES!!!

That takes us to a fork in the road. One path follows the ideals that all free people hold dear, that we are not vigilanties, nor are we ourselves terrorists, that prey on convienient victims, to make ourselves feel that we are getting back at "Them!" The other path holds signs of glory and fame on it. Many people can be heard down its line cheering for heros. If you listen closely, you will find that they are begging for heros to save them from those who took that path, for that path is the primrose path of destruction.

We must punish the Guilty, or hang our heads in shame. We must never punish the innocent, or we will become, the gulity.

A beautiful day in Manhatten
Not a cloud in the sky
No hint of the devastation
That would rain from on high
No inkling of the horror
As they went their own way
That an evil foe had marked them
For annihilation this day
Pure evil embodied
In misguided zealots
Convinced of America's
Crimes against God
Jihad to end
The lives of five thousand
With little more than a nod
Innocent people killed for a point
To teach us a lesson
That if we break God's laws
We won't go to heaven
Because we don't like you
We'll take all your lives
Annoint you with fire
Kill your husbands and wives
Your children and parents
Their lives they must pay
For the crimes that some others
Have gotten away
Or so you believe in your
Brain washed delusions
Your hopeless fanaticism
Is just your illusion
Of what is or isn't
A loving God's solution
Who gave you the right
To decide God's will?
Did he tell you its justice
To destroy, maim and kill?
I know you won't answer
From under your rock
Your cowardice is immense
As we look at the clock
That just keeps on ticking
Toward the end of time
As I wring my hands in sorrow
And wish things were fine
I know that no matter
How this all should end
That we'll all be the sadder
For what is our sin?
Were the thousands you killed here
Guilty of wrong doing?
Or was it you that have slain them
Who embody the evil?
I will not judge you
As you have judged them
That you murdered in cold blood
And sent to their doom
But I'm sure that some power
In this universe
Will have something to say
When you hear the last verse
And I doubt you will be
Spending eternity
In paradise with God

Hatred and vengence never prevails. If you are to pray, remember to pray for those who need our prayers the most. Pray for the terrorists to open their eyes to the tragedies they have caused. Pray that they will someday choose to walk a different path. Pray that they will look inside themselves and see the error of their ways. Pray for those who are ignorant to become enlightened and for ALL humanity to cherish its diversity with honor and respect. If you believe that your prayers will be answered, please pray for the terrorists themselves.

Courtesy of Stephen Walker, a fellow Celtic artist:
I don't usually pass on such things, but this one is too good to miss:


What Dr. Seuss would say :]

Every U down in Uville liked U.S. a lot,
But the Binch, who lived Far East of Uville, did not.
The Binch hated U.S! The whole U.S. way!
Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say,
It could be his turban was screwed on too tight.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

But, whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch.
"They're raising their families! They're going to church!
They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving,
I MUST keep the S's and the U's from surviving!"

Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses,
They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules,

And then they'd do something he liked least of all,
Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small,
Would stand all united, each U and each S,
And they'd sing Uville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!"
All around their Twin Towers of Uville they'd stand,
And their voices would drown every sound in the land.

"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea - an idea that might work!
The Binch stole some U airplanes in U morning hours,
And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers.
"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"

The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping,
All set to enjoy the U-wailing and weeping,
Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow -
And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing...
And he couldn't believe it - they started to sing!

He stared down at Uville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Every U down in Uville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any towers at all!
He HADN'T stopped Uville from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers were standing, called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.

So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.

For America means a bit more than tall towers,
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!


-Kathy Wingfield
School Psychologist
Chesterfield County Public Schools

Priceless, thanks for sharing it.

Celt... The Dr Seuss poem.....in some strange way it is America.
A complex simplicity if that makes sense
TheLad~

Its a bit corny, but it does express that complex simplicity. It doesn't touch on the complex social issues involved in this crisis, but is a commentary on how these acts of terror have served to unite a country rather than divide it.

May God bless us all

. the chain of reaction continues. There is a great deal to answer for.

Complex simplicity .. or Simple complexity? I can't work out which way to go .... I wish Alice and the White Rabbit would show the way.

????? references please?