(WARNING: COULD BE THE LONGEST POST EVER) Albeit for totally different reason I just made a list of defining moments in my life for my daughters. Those things good and bad that people say you will always remember where you were when they happened, some of mine included:
1. The bittersweet-the funeral of John F. Kennedy. I was only as old as John-John, but my Dad sat me on the couch and then sat next to me and said "it's important for you to know you saw this."
2. The first man on the moon.
3.The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger-I was watching during my lunch break at school and was so proud that the first teacher in space was aboard.
4. The death of Princess Diana, someone I identified with. although she was a princess, and I was just a regular person, our younger lives were a little similar, and we had some of the same insecurities.
AND OF COURSE: 9/11/01:
I WAS TEACHING MY DROP OUT PREVENTION CLASS, MOSTLY BOYS, THE MAJORITY OF THEM HAD BEEN TO JAIL AT LEAST ONCE. I WAS SHOWING THEM A VIDEO ABOUT THE LOST BOYS OF THE SUDAN. THE VIDEO ENDED AND I POPPED IT OUT JUST IN TIME TO SEE THE PLANE HIT THE SECOND TOWER. THE ROOM WAS SILENT, ALTHOUGH I KNEW SOME OF MY STUDENTS DIDN'T KNOW THE EXACT SIGNIFICANCE. WE WERE IMMEDIATELY INSTRUCTED BY THE PRINCIPAL TO TURN THE TV OFF.
MY SCHOOL WAS 45 MINUTES FROM HOME AND THE FIRST THING I COULD THINK OF IS-WE HAVE TO GO GET ANNA AND KATIE, I CALLED DREW AND HE CALMED ME DOWN (FOR THE MOMENT) WHO KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN? IT SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD.
The next day in the same class I said something that I never thought would come true, I said "if we go to war and it lasts a long time (never thought this would be true) some of you may go and fight. Today I sit here and think, it is true, I'm sure some of those boys with little options went to fight. And like every single soldier who still fights, or who lost their lives I pray for them, what brave people!
The next weeks were devastating to me. I had eaten dinner at the top of the World Trade Center so I had an understanding of just how high they were. American tv's weren't showing it, but we have a lot of Latin tv stations here and they showed people jumping, and the thuds when they fell.
They showed all of the heartbroken people posting picture after picture of their lost loved ones all over NYC.
My emotions always run away with me (even then) and finally Drew banned me from watching the tv.
I did something reminiscent of what my Dad did all those years ago and took the picture above. Today I have a heavy heart, and I received the following from a good friend on facebook that I can't help agreeing with although it is an unpopular sentiment.
Rich DeBerardinis
Credit to Marcus Davis By Brian McLaren:Being in the UK, I got the news about Osama bin Ladin's death earlier than a lot of folks in the States. The news here showed President Obama making the announcement, and then shifted to American college students reveling outside the White House, shouting, chanting "USA" and spilling beer. I flipped through channels and saw the same scene repeated.
I can only say that this image does not reflect well on my country, especially in contrast to the images that have been so strong here in recent days ... revelers celebrating a wedding.
Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?
I just got this email from an American friend:
... When I received the news of his death, I must confess that my primary emotion was not excitement, but sadness...deep sadness that his life did not reflect God's intent for the world...deep sadness as I anticipated the rhetoric that awaited me on Facebook, the internet, and TV.
I do not understand a world that allows for a man to cause so much pain and I do not understand a world that rejoices in the death of that man who just happens to be created in the image of God. I have no answers or alternatives, but it saddens me that the best response we have to true brokenness always seems to be death.
Perhaps everyone is right. Perhaps the death of Osama Bin Laden has made this world more safe. I do not believe, however, that his death has made this world more beautiful.
As you talk about this news, I hope you will consider how your response can counter rather than reinforce the cycles of violence that spin around us. And please God, help us bring healing beauty to the ugliness of violence in whatever small way we can. Today.
I can only say that this image does not reflect well on my country, especially in contrast to the images that have been so strong here in recent days ... revelers celebrating a wedding.
Joyfully celebrating the killing of a killer who joyfully celebrated killing carries an irony that I hope will not be lost on us. Are we learning anything, or simply spinning harder in the cycle of violence?
I just got this email from an American friend:
... When I received the news of his death, I must confess that my primary emotion was not excitement, but sadness...deep sadness that his life did not reflect God's intent for the world...deep sadness as I anticipated the rhetoric that awaited me on Facebook, the internet, and TV.
I do not understand a world that allows for a man to cause so much pain and I do not understand a world that rejoices in the death of that man who just happens to be created in the image of God. I have no answers or alternatives, but it saddens me that the best response we have to true brokenness always seems to be death.
Perhaps everyone is right. Perhaps the death of Osama Bin Laden has made this world more safe. I do not believe, however, that his death has made this world more beautiful.
As you talk about this news, I hope you will consider how your response can counter rather than reinforce the cycles of violence that spin around us. And please God, help us bring healing beauty to the ugliness of violence in whatever small way we can. Today.
1 comment:
Great post, Lesa. I can't say that I feel much of anything knowing that he is dead. I guess I understand that it brings some closure to those who had family members perish on 9/11. But for people to think that like, this is it and we don't have to worry about anything else, they are stupid. He has a second in command and a third in command and so on and so forth... I don't even know what to think at this point, honestly.
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