Deep breath.
It's hard to sort through all the emotions associated with 9.11. Even five years removed these images stir familiar feelings. Journalists, bloggers, and politicians are encouraging us not to forget. How can we? The smoky picture of falling towers is burned into my memory.
Death seems more real on anniversaries like 9.11. Almost 3,000 died at ground zero. And then I think of Asia's recent tsunami. About 150,000 people died in that disaster. That's fifty 9.11's.
150,000. That's a sobering number; especially when we realize it's a daily number. About 150,000 people die every day. Fifty 9.11's happen everyday. About 8,500 people die from AIDS everyday. That's almost three 9.11's.
Death touches us all.
Maybe we should mourn more often.
9.11 has always been a happy day for me. In 1978 it was the day I was born. Five years ago I woke up on 9.11 to celebrate my 23rd birthday. We still tried to gather at Mongolian Barbecue for dinner but that birthday turned sober. None of us felt like laughing.
Today I laughed. I enjoyed my family. Our staff meeting turned into a little birthday party. And then I saw the pictures on my tv screen again and all the emotions mixed.
Birthdays and funerals. Life and death. Perhaps they're closer to each other than we think.
It is better to spend your time at funerals than at festivals. For you are going to die, and you should think about it while there is still time. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool thinks only about having a good time now (Ecclesiastes 7.2-4).
Maybe we should mourn more often?
Happy Belated Birthday! Keep up the great work in Detroit!
Posted by: Michael Dubbels | September 12, 2006 at 08:52 AM
Happy B-day, and what a choice scripture to re-align ones thinking!
Posted by: Jerome | September 12, 2006 at 10:39 AM