A Tough Day for the USA

[ZarPrime]

In remembrance of the men, women and children who lost their lives, and the brave people who gave their lives while trying to save them. We will never forget 9/11/2001.

Reference:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-karin-l-smithson/911-anniversary_b_3886553.html

Today, as I sit in my office, hearing the intermittent roar of planes flying overhead, I am still. Purposefully still. There is an awareness that 9/11 is upon the hearts of our country again, and my own heart breaks as I picture how we all sat here on a regular morning, just like today, 12 years ago.

We heard the same planes in the same skies as we carried on with our coffee and morning routines, walking dogs and kissing cheeks. We were watching the news, taking kids to school, hearing these same planes passing from cloud to cloud, bringing people to destinations for individual, important reasons. Each one had a purpose.

I sit silently and reflect on how that same powerful sound malevolently brought evil and loss on that horrific day. The planes' passengers were people of all descents, ages, and religions, on their way to visit specific people and places... on a day just like today.

Tucked and buckled inside those planes' aisles were one-of-a-kind people typing away on laptops, taking naps, finishing mystery novels, or stirring with excitement over meeting a new grandbaby. There were schedules to keep, speeches to give, children to hug...

Or perhaps they were diligently working in their office in the Pentagon or World Trade Center, delivering a package, or going up the elevator for a job interview. Maybe they got to work early to get their presentation in, to be the first to call on the West Coast client, or to grab coffee with a colleague to chat about last night's game.

Or maybe they were firefighters, answering the call of duty like so many days before, checking equipment, waiting for the next alarm... hoping they would make it on time to save the lives waiting for them.   There was purpose in that day.

On Sept. 11, 2001, they were going about business on a puffy-clouded, pre-autumn morning with the usual noise of planes flying overhead and fire engines stirring the morning commute. And like us today, they may not have heard the planes or trucks flying by because their noises can be just that -- part of the "flying by" of our lives as we move from breakfast to boardroom, seminar to celebration, clinic to classroom.

But on that day those noises changed, as terrorists made it their mission to bring the loudest of evils out of our blue skies and turn the azure hopefulness of a new morning into a black-clouded demolition of property, life and family.

As the buildings were torn apart by planes turned into bombs, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters were taken from their families... and their reasons for living... by noises they had never heard before. We that remained on the ground, in our home towns, were left in the reverberating cacophonous aftershocks of trying to handle something so wicked, so unbearable, so incomprehensible, we became paralyzed by the unrelenting noises on our screens.  We watched... and we listened...

The shock, trauma and horror of the crying... searching... waiting... praying... realizing... can still be felt deep within us as we reopen the memory box from that day. We all remember exactly where we were when we heard the news change from reports of a wayward, random plane crash into the reality of a terror attack still underway on the radar of our skies.

We were listening and still for unending hours, scared and shaken in places that we had never felt before. And today, we are still recoiling, still remembering, still disbelieving... but always building hope and holding it tightly to our chests... hope that the sounds of reconstruction and recovery are making us stronger and more purposeful through the ongoing rebuilding of safety, spirit and symbolic structure.

And on this Sept. 11, as planes stir the silence from sun-filled skies and fire engines whir stridently by bustling street corners, remember that they are traveling because of LIVES. Remember that there remains meaning for all of our lives as we continue to travel forward, despite the loss, vulnerability and fear that piercingly cracked open the skies of our world on that September Tuesday.

Today, in tribute, I ask you to do something with me...

Stay aware to the sounds in the air outside and wait for the noise of an airplane or a fire truck to travel by. And when they do, stop... look... and listen.

Step outside and let those sounds find their way into your ears and through your cells, filling the space within you and around you.

Speak blessings over the people inside those planes and trucks and those waiting for them to arrive.

Speak blessings of life, safety and peace.

Speak blessings over those who lost loved ones on 9/11 and who are experiencing those same noises today as reminders of the silencing of their loved one's life.

Speak blessings of comfort, renewal and hope.

Today, may the gentle sounds of our whispered blessings rise up and join together in the September skies, covering our nation with a sheltering blanket of reverence, unity, and meaning.

Today... listen... feel... honor... bless...

And... be blessed.

For more by Dr. Karin L. Smithson, click here.

This commercial, aired only once, says it all.

[sangham.net]

When I look and listen around, it seems like many have not forgiven... but simply beat and fight back... really not happy about bravery in fighting an eye for an eye. So maybe it would be good to member that we should put aside weapons and defended.

There is nothing that justifies the overstep of simply virtues and it would not good to adopt lobbing into measures what is simply a matter of the guardians of the world: moral shame and fear of the backwards of unrighteous deed. Don't cut this guardians of.

"Budweiser Commercial" ... no comment.

May this be a useful share in remembrance of the past: Getting the Message 

[IchBin]

Thanks for sharing Zar. Always good to remember the past and those who served and gave their lives in an effort to save others.

[william777]

Most unforgettable day and a sad day for USA.

[sangham.net]

Off-topic: Not sure if you have the same appearance, but after ZarPrime post all fonts are cursive.

Ohh I see, it's a HTML post. With an open tag. Quite "dangerous" this BBC code.

[ZarPrime]

Off-topic: Not sure if you have the same appearance, but after ZarPrime post all fonts are cursive.

Ohh I see, it's a HTML post. With an open tag. Quite "dangerous" this BBC code.

It's not cursive, I was using the html em tag,

Code Select Expand

<em>Emphasized text</em>

and simply forgot the closing tag.  Sorry for being such a dweeb but it's not really

"dangerous" BBC code

as you suggest.  In any case, it's fixed now.

ZarPrime

[sangham.net]

Great!

On topic, I will give you a story to think about:
The word heedful has to be understood with qualities included like: diligent, conscientiously, and watchful especially in regard of own intentions and feelings preoccupying the actions. "Bravery" is mostly a not so earnest deal.

...."Dhanañjani the brahman is also strong & free from illness."

"And I trust that Dhanañjani the brahman is heedful?"

"From where would our Dhanañjani the brahman get any heedfulness, friend? Relying on the king, he plunders brahmans & householders. Relying on the brahmans & householders, he plunders the king. His wife — a woman of faith, fetched from a family with faith — has died. He has fetched another wife — a woman of no faith — from a family with no faith."

"What a bad thing to hear, my friend — when we hear that Dhanañjani the brahman is heedless. Perhaps sooner or later we might meet with Dhanañjani the brahman. Perhaps there might be some conversation."

Then Ven. Sariputta, having stayed in the Southern Mountains as long as he liked, wandered in the direction of Rajagaha. After wandering by stages, he arrived at Rajagaha. There he stayed near Rajagaha in the Squirrels' Sanctuary.

Then early in the morning, Ven. Sariputta put on his robes and, carrying his bowl & outer robe, went into Rajagaha for alms. And on that occasion Dhanañjani the brahman was milking cows in a cow pen outside the city. Then Ven. Sariputta, having gone for alms in Rajagaha, after his meal, on his way back from his almsround, went to Dhanañjani the brahman. Dhanañjani the brahman saw Ven. Sariputta coming from afar. On seeing him, he went to him and said, "Drink some of this fresh milk, master Sariputta. It must be time for your meal."

"That's all right, brahman. I have finished my meal for today. My day's abiding will be under that tree over there. You may come there."

"As you say, master," Dhanañjani responded to Ven. Sariputta. Then after he had finished his morning meal, he went to Ven. Sariputta. On arrival, he exchanged courteous greetings with Ven. Sariputta and — after an exchange of friendly greetings & courtesies — sat to one side. As he was sitting there, Ven. Sariputta said to him, "I trust, Dhanañjani, that you are heedful?"

"From where would we get any heedfulness, master? — when parents are to be supported, wife & children are to be supported, slaves & workers are to be supported, friend-&-companion duties are to be done for friends & companions, kinsmen-&-relative duties for kinsmen & relatives, guest duties for guests, departed-ancestor duties for departed ancestors, devata duties for devatas, king duties for the king, and this body also has to be refreshed & nourished."

"What do you think Dhanañjani? There is the case where a certain person, for the sake of his mother & father, does what is unrighteous, does what is discordant. Then, because of his unrighteous, discordant behavior, hell-wardens drag him off to hell. Would he gain anything by saying, 'I did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for the sake of my mother & father. Don't [throw] me into hell, hell-wardens!' Or would his mother & father gain anything for him by saying, 'He did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for our sake. Don't [throw] him into hell, hell-wardens!'?"

"No, master Sariputta. Even right while he was wailing, they'd cast him into hell."

"What do you think Dhanañjani? There is the case where a certain person, for the sake of his wife & children ... his slaves & workers ... his friends & companions ... his kinsmen & relatives ... his guests ... his departed ancestors ... the devatas ... the king, does what is unrighteous, does what is discordant. Then, because of his unrighteous, discordant behavior, hell-wardens drag him off to hell. Would he gain anything by saying, 'I did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for the sake of the king. Don't [throw] me into hell, hell-wardens!' Or would the king gain anything for him by saying, 'He did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for our sake. Don't [throw] him into hell, hell-wardens!'?"

"No, master Sariputta. Even right while he was wailing, they'd cast him into hell."

"What do you think Dhanañjani? There is the case where a certain person, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing his body, does what is unrighteous, does what is discordant. Then, because of his unrighteous, discordant behavior, hell-wardens drag him off to hell. Would he gain anything by saying, 'I did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing my body. Don't [throw] me into hell, hell-wardens!' Or would others gain anything for him by saying, 'He did what is unrighteous, what is discordant, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing his body. Don't [throw] him into hell, hell-wardens!'?"

"No, master Sariputta. Even right while he was wailing, they'd cast him into hell."

"Now, what do you think, Dhanañjani? Which is the better: one who, for the sake of his mother & father, would do what is unrighteous, what is discordant; or one who, for the sake of his mother & father, would do what is righteous, what is concordant?

"Master Sariputta, the one who, for the sake of his mother & father, would do what is unrighteous, what is discordant, is not the better one. The one who, for the sake of his mother & father, would do what is righteous, what is concordant would be the better one there. Righteous behavior, concordant behavior, is better than unrighteous behavior, discordant behavior.[2]

"Dhanañjani, there are other activities — reasonable, righteous — by which one can support one's mother & father, and at the same time both not do evil and practice the practice of merit.

"What do you think, Dhanañjani: Which is the better: one who, for the sake of his wife & children ... his slaves & workers ... his friends & companions ... his kinsmen & relatives ... his guests ... his departed ancestors ... the devatas ... the king ... refreshing & nourishing his body, would do what is unrighteous, what is discordant; or one who, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing his body, would do what is righteous, what is concordant?

"Master Sariputta, the one who, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing his body, would do what is unrighteous, what is discordant, is not the better one. The one who, for the sake of refreshing & nourishing his body, would do what is righteous, what is concordant would be the better one there. Righteous behavior, concordant behavior, is better than unrighteous behavior, discordant behavior.[3]

"Dhanañjani, there are other activities — reasonable, righteous — by which one can refresh & nourish one's body, and at the same time both not do evil and practice the practice of merit."

Then Dhanañjani the brahman, delighting & rejoicing in Ven. Sariputta's words, got up from his seat and left.
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