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The Deeper Wound As fate would have it, I was leaving New
York on a jet flight that took off 45
minutes before the unthinkable happened. By the time we landed in Detroit,
chaos had broken out. When I grasped the fact that American security
had broken down so tragically, I couldn't respond at first. My wife
and son were also in the air on separate flights, one to Los Angeles,
one to San Diego. My body went absolutely
rigid with fear. All I could think
about was their safety, and it took several hours before I found out
that their flights had been diverted and both
were safe. Strangely, when the good news came, my body
still felt that it had been hit by a
truck. Of its own accord it seemed to feel a far greater trauma that
reached out to the thousands who would not survive and the tens of thousands
who would survive only to live through months and years of hell.
And I asked myself, Why didn't I feel this way
last week? Why didn't my body go stiff
during the bombing of Iraq or Bosnia? Around the world my horror
and worry are experienced every day. Mothers weep over horrendous loss,
civilians are bombed mercilessly, refugees are ripped from any sense
of home or homeland. Why did I not feel their
anguish enough to call a halt to it? As we hear the calls for tightened American
security and a fierce military response
to terrorism, it is obvious that none of us has any answers. However,
we feel compelled to ask some questions. Everything has a cause, so we have to ask, What was the root cause of this evil? We must find out not superficially but at the deepest level. There is no doubt that such evil is alive all around the world and is even celebrated. Does this evil grow from the suffering and anguish felt by people we don't know and therefore ignore? Have they lived in this condition for a long time? One assumes that whoever did this attack feels implacable hatred for America. Why were we selected to be the focus of suffering around the world? All this hatred and anguish seems to have religion at its basis. Isn't something terribly wrong when jihads and wars develop in the name of God? Isn't God invoked with hatred in Ireland, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Israel, Palestine, and even among the intolerant sects of America? Can any military response make the
slightest difference in the underlying cause?
Is there not a deep wound at the heart of humanity? If
there is a deep wound, doesn't it affect everyone? Tribal warfare has been going on for two thousand years and has now been magnified globally. Can tribal warfare be brought to an end? Is patriotism and nationalism even relevant anymore, or is this another form of tribalism? What are you and I as persons going to do about what is happening? Can we afford to let the deeper wound fester any longer? Everyone is calling this an attack on America, but is it not a rift in our collective soul? Isn't this an attack on civilization from without that is also from within? When we have secured our safety once more
and cared for the wounded, after the
period of shock and mourning is over, it will be time for soul searching.
I only hope that these questions are confronted with the deepest spiritual
intent. None of us will feel safe again behind the shield of military
might and stockpiled arsenals. There can be no safety until the root
cause is faced. In this moment of shock I don't think anyone of us has
the answers. It is imperative that we pray and
offer solace and help to each
other. But if you and I are having a single thought of violence or
hatred against anyone in the world at this
moment, we are contributing to the
wounding of the world. Love, Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 6:31 AM |