A Fitting Tribute
This was my first real 9/11 anniversary. The first one was in Alaska when I was training to be an observor for NMFS, and we took the afternoon off to go to a rememberance, but it felt rather removed, since I was only staying there on land for 3 weeks, and it wasn't where I lived. During the next three anniversaries I was in Morocco, and the day passed by nearly unnoticed. So this was a different day, getting a bit more what most Americans have experienced over the last 5 years. I woke up to hear Cheney declaring that he still found the 9/11 attack unexplainable, and he still appears to not understand the motives of those who attacked the world on that day. I listened to George Bush give his 9/11 memorial in the evening, talking of how we should continue to be afraid, and continue to fight for war. He gave a list of all the good things he has done during his term. It was a long list. He spoke about how America's new mission abroad was no longer to promote stability and peace, but rather freedom and democracy. And there was also a remembering of the Americans who lost their lives going to war in Iraq.
Here's why I love my church. Yesterday during the Meeting for Learning we discussed the concept of finding that of God in every person. If we are made in God's image, all people, then there is that of God in each person, and it is our duty, and our joy, to find that of God in each person- Ossama Bin Laden, or even George Bush. It is hard for each of us to find that of God in certain people, and who those certain people are is different for each of us. But if I can't find that of God in my enemy, then how can I truly find that of Him within myself?
During Meeting for Worship we lifted up prayers of blessing for many, including Bush, Rumsfield, and Ossama Bin Laden. Would that God would bring Bin Laden to a place where his deepest desire is peace and love for his enemies, as he feels the love of God for him. That as he recognizes how much he can be forgiven, he can learn to forgive. Then history would remember him as a man of peace as much as Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. He would be changed so radically that his greatest drive for the remainder of his days would be peace between all peoples. That would be indeed a fitting tribute for those who died that horrible day.
Here's why I love my church. Yesterday during the Meeting for Learning we discussed the concept of finding that of God in every person. If we are made in God's image, all people, then there is that of God in each person, and it is our duty, and our joy, to find that of God in each person- Ossama Bin Laden, or even George Bush. It is hard for each of us to find that of God in certain people, and who those certain people are is different for each of us. But if I can't find that of God in my enemy, then how can I truly find that of Him within myself?
During Meeting for Worship we lifted up prayers of blessing for many, including Bush, Rumsfield, and Ossama Bin Laden. Would that God would bring Bin Laden to a place where his deepest desire is peace and love for his enemies, as he feels the love of God for him. That as he recognizes how much he can be forgiven, he can learn to forgive. Then history would remember him as a man of peace as much as Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. He would be changed so radically that his greatest drive for the remainder of his days would be peace between all peoples. That would be indeed a fitting tribute for those who died that horrible day.
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