(~) A Few Thoughts of Comfort

In this time of sorrow I’d like to share with you some words from others that I hope will give you inspiration and encouragement. As we mourn what has been lost, let us hope that we will come together as a nation as a result of this tragedy.

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“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther

“When you get in a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil. Our great hope lies in developing what is good.” – Calvin Coolidge

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ALL WE REALLY HAVE

It was a picturesque morning in late summer. The sun was shining. The air was crisp and clear. Life was good.

And then, something happened.

Within minutes, our outlook on the world, our communities, and our families changed — forever.

In the blink of an eye, what was considered invulnerable became vulnerable. What was safe was now dangerous.

No one could have expected it. No one could have even imagined it. Cries of “Pearl Harbor” echoed on the television and among friends and families on the phone.

A new generation of Americans had suddenly discovered what it must have been like for their parents and grandparents — only this time, it was worse.

Social and political commentators, journalists, and military experts were at a loss. No one knew what to say or how to react. The world came to a grinding halt as the shocking news spread and people found themselves paralyzed with confusion.

Beyond the destroyed buildings of crushed metal and glass, there were the countless victims. Innocent people who were killed or injured over issues they knew little or nothing about.

There was no sense to it. No explanation. No easy enemy. Those responsible were unknown and unseen. Bombs weren’t used — the weapons of choice were civilian passenger planes laden with fuel.

The horrifying and surreal scenes of destruction have done two things. Yes, they have made us sad. But more importantly, they have helped — no, they have forced — us to put our lives in perspective.

What seemed so important on Monday, seems so insignificant today.

Within a few short hours, our thoughts and priorities shifted. Oh, the world will keep spinning, however, our minds and spirits have been transformed. The things we took so seriously, the things we stressed about, argued about, worried about — all of those personal issues that were consuming us — are hardly noticeable now. The things we believed constituted a “crisis” before turned out to be nothing more than trivial.

As parents struggle to explain this to their young children, thousands of American families will be attempting to do what they think is impossible — putting their shattered lives back in order.

Americans will come together and the massive response will show our true colors as a nation. Our government and volunteer resources will unite in the rescue efforts. Citizens from every walk of life will respond in droves to Red Cross blood drives across the nation. And we will see stories about ordinary people who did extraordinary things to help and save complete strangers during this devastation — true angels who spread their wings of safety around those who were caught in a web of terror. Heroes will abound and prove, as always, that good can, and will, overcome evil.

But why? Why does it take a tragedy of this magnitude to remind us what’s really important? Do we have to lose so much to understand?

Why does it take a catastrophe for us to appreciate what we otherwise take for granted? I don’t know. I only know that we will look at the world differently. Maybe we will be more cynical, more careful, more determined to seek the truth.

Regardless, we will look at our friends and family with a new eye — more loving and forgiving, less judgmental and with the total realization that we only have each other for a finite period of time.

That’s the ultimate truth.

Because all we really have is each other, our freedoms, our faith, and the hope that our painful path to recovery will allow us to shape a peaceful world for our children.

– Lee Simonson, Publisher of Heartwarmers Newsletter

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“Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all.” – Emily Dickinson

“I report to you that our country is challenged at home and abroad: that it is our will that is being tried and not our strength; our sense of purpose and not our ability to achieve a better America.” – Lyndon B. Johnson

“Each difficult moment has the potential to open my eyes and open my heart.” – Source Unknown

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We know in times of tragedy we often feel at a loss as to how we can help. Click on the links below for information on how you can make a difference in the lives of people who have been changed forever.

The American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org

The National Organization for Victim Assistance http://www.try-nova.org A private, nonprofit organization committed to the recognition and implementation of victim rights and services.

Catholic Charities USA http://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org The nation’s largest private network of people helping people

Helping.org http://www.helping.org Offers a database of over 700,000 charities and non-profit organizations

The New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/13/nyregion/13NEED.html A campaign by The New York Times to raise funds to help families of the victims

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“Silly people – and there were many, not only in enemy countries – might discount the force of the United States. Some said they were soft, others that they would never be united. They would fool around at a distance. They would never come to grips. They would never stand blood-letting. Their democracy and system of recurrent elections would paralyze their war effort. They would be just a vague blur on the horizon to friend or foe. Now we should see the weakness of this numerous but remote, wealthy, and talkative people. But I had studied the American Civil War, fought to the last desperate inch. American blood flowed in my veins. I thought of a remark which Edward Grey had made to me more than thirty years before – that the United States is like ‘a gigantic boiler. Once the fire is lighted under it there is no limit to the power it can generate.’ Being saturated and satiated with emotion and sensation, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the saved and thankful.” – Winston Churchill, in a speech to Congress persuading the US to join the world forces in World War II

“The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.” – Helen Keller

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Death ..is nothing at all. I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, that we still are. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference in your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Pray, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was, let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was; there is unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner.

All is well. – Henry Scott Holland