Indulge in a momentary lapse of utopian thought, that will (no doubt) fade, faster than the next headline appears…Perhaps,the collective reflection on the anniversary of 9/11 will spark familiarity of the commons. And, perhaps this new enlightenment will become the light house beckoning us from the churning sea of political division.
The anniversary has been marked with memorial offerings & somber reflections. One of the most compelling-a brilliant reflective summation by Leon Wieseltier …
On Thursday night, The New Republic, in partnership with the Kennedy Center and the Pentagon, commemorated the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001. The event (which can be viewed in its entirety here.) Remarks by Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic’s literary editor, on what we, as Americans, affirm:
“Though we encounter it as suffering, grief is in fact an affirmation. The indifferent do not grieve, the uncommitted do not grieve, the loveless do not grieve. We mourn only the loss of what we have loved and what we have valued, and in this way mourning darkly refreshes our knowledge of the causes of our loves and the reasons for our values. Our sorrow restores us to the splendors of our connectedness to people and to principles. It is the yes of a broken heart. In our bereavement we discover how much was ruptured by death, and also how much was not ruptured. These tears lead directly to introspection…
….The obscenities of September 11, 2001 exposed the difference between builders and destroyers. We are builders. Let us agree, on this anniversary, that it is an honor to be an American and it is an honor to be free.” Read the entire moving speech.
Interesting reads:
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/magazine/94154/september-11-the-changed-world
http://www.tnr.com/article/94796/peretz-miami-herald-evidence-9-11
Define. Don't Defend. 