Remembrance & Compassion on 9-11

It’s hard to imagine anyone living in the United States who doesn’t know thattoday is the 10th anniversary of 9-11. September 11, 2001 is etched in our collective consciousness as few other events in American history have been. One would be hard-pressed to count the number of remembrance events taking place today; from grand, civic events like New York City’s to small, more intimate services in churches, synagogues, & temples, (and–yes–mosques), today will be a day for mourning the nearly 3,000 lives lost on that day. This is right and good. It is important to take time to recall those lives, and how those loses touched us all. These are things that unite people into a community, be it large or small.

On this day, it is also important to remember the families and friends of those who died. Our sadness over those deaths is and should remain the source of compassion that we feel for those whose pain of loss will never go away.

It may be argued that today should be strictly for remembering those who died ten years ago or were immediately touched by those deaths. Unfortunately, compassion–once felt–has a tendency to expand, reaching out to others who suffer.

This day should serve, too, to remind us of the lives lost and families that suffer as a result of 9-11. The first responders who spent days and weeks in the toxic ruins of the Twin Towers carried the devastation in their bodies and minds, and many of them died as a result of their dedicated service. Many more struggle with the after-effects, their suffering exacerbated by cruel bureaucracies & politicians who have denied them the health care they deserve.

The events ten years ago also propelled our country into two wars-of-choice. As of this morning, just over 7500 American servicemen and women have died in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than twice those who died on 9-11. They, too, have families for whom the pain of loss will not end. Of the hundreds of thousands of others who were sent off to those conflicts, tens of thousands returned home wounded in body and mind. They, and the families who care for them, should be remembered on this day, too.

The ripples of suffering for ten years have expanded even beyond America as a result of the wars, to include millions of people of in Afghanistan, Pakistan, & Iraq whose lives have been forever shaken through death, the collapse of society, displacement, and mental & physical trauma. By some estimates, between 1 & 1-1/2 million Iraqis have died, and tens of thousands of Afghanis & Pakastanis, as a direct result of American (and British, and NATO) policies post-9-11. Just as those murdered on 9-11, the vast majority of these people did nothing deserving of death. They should be remembered as well.

We do no dishonor to those who died on that Tuesday ten years ago when we recall those who have suffered and died subsequently if our remembrances inspire a spirit of compassion in us both as individuals and as a people. We are at our best when we feel and act on compassion towards others. It matters little whether those others are close to home or far away.