Dates never forgotten…

September 11, 2001 - we still remember.  What dates are never forgotten for you? 

In the novel, A Tale of Two Cities © is the contrast, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…” both occurring at the same time.  For many Americans, 9/11/2001 seems like a demarcation point between the best of times before that morning and the worst of times after.  That’s when terrorism literally collided into freedom.

Do you remember where you were when news and the images of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centers in New York City were broadcast?  I always will.  In a flash Americans were once again about to be tested on what we can endure during the worst of times.  

December 7, 1945 tested my parent’s generation; October 24-29, 1929 tested my grandparents’.  On a more personal level April 20, 1999 was the worst of times for Columbine High School in my hometown. 

It’s amazing what we can accomplish during the best of times; and what we can endure during the worst of times.  The bad times help us appreciate and enjoy the good times.  Here’s how Ernest Hemingway phrased it: 

Life breaks us.  And when we heal, we’re stronger on the broken parts. 

Our ability to gain strength from adversity should come as no surprise, though.  Our ancestry is made of up generations who were broken; endured; and then grew stronger. Is today’s adversity caused by gun violence, racial injustice, and other calamities akin? 

For those who did not suffer a direct loss of loved ones from the recent (and lingering?) pandemic, our hardships now come in the form of inconvenience and economics.  It’s more arduous today to keep up; we hear "supply chain disruptions"; housing prices are almost unreachable.  Things we once dreamed of seem further from our grasp.  Our available resources are nearing the breaking point.  

But for America, that’s nothing new.  Our country has been on the brink; had parts broken; and healed back stronger for as long as we have been a country.  Was the suffering from the Revolution, the Civil War, the Viet Nam War, the Civil Rights Movement, or any other national, local, family, or personal crisis less hard? 

We are again facing threats to our way of life; and indeed many of our life’s ways need to change.  We are strong enough to face these threats because we come from generations of strength - families who struggled to make for this country, for their loved ones, and for themselves the best of times.  Like past generations, Americans today will have to re-earn the better things in life.  Perhaps we first must re-learn what those better things are: 

To really enjoy the better things in life, one must first have experienced the things they are better than.  

Oscar Holmolka 

Sunday we will reflect on that never forgotten, life-changing event known as 9/11.  As impactful perhaps as  the day an American walked on the moon, or the night the men's Olympic hockey team won the gold medal to Al Michaels’ famous words, “Do you believe in miracles?”  Our Unknown Sage reminds us: 

The First Rule of Life: 

The best things in life aren't things.

America endured October 24^th, 1929; grew stronger after the December 7^th, 1941; my hometown stands firm following the April 20^th, 1999; we’ve overcome 9/11/2001.  Today, American must endeavor to re-unite again.  

We will succeed because we have never forgotten.                                 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.