Today is a day of deep and painful reflection for Americans. A day where we are reminded that there is definitely a dark evil in this world and it lurks around us even when we are just innocently going about our daily lives. Personally, all I can think of when I think of 9-11 is evil and darkness, bitter black darkness... it is there. It exists. God has warned us of it in the bible. Ten years ago, the day of 9-11-01 we were provided proof. For Americans, 9-11-01 marks the day that all of our lives were touched and changed forever. It's the day that we experienced an up close and personal moment with this kind of darkness in the form of an unannounced merciless attack on our dear country and on our own soil, intending to derail our life of freedom. Yes, without a doubt, evil bitter black darkness descented on us on that day and although I still remember that darkness, I also think of another thing on this day.... I think of goodness and light. I think of an unbreakable unity, an undying love, and two beaming lights of resiliency.I was deep in thought this morning reflecting on the events of 9-11 as I watched and listened to the memorial held in NY City on the news. I listened to one sad touching story of loss after another from the children and/or spouses of a victim, and was moved to tears. I watched as our troops unfolded our beloved American flag in devoted unison while flying one high from the new tower being built, and I joined in when they sang our national anthem, the "Star Spangled Banner", with my hand over my heart. I not only relived the pain of that day, but I relived the pride. The pride of being an American. The strong resolve and resilience that we have as a nation. One nation, under God. It was then that a story from my childhood came to my mind... out of nowhere... and I realized how similar it was to these real life events that I had been a part of in my life and the one I was witnessing on TV at that very moment. That story is a Dr. Seuss holiday hit and favorite... "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". In wikipedia online, the story is summed up like this:
The Grinch, a fictional, bitter, cave-dwelling, catlike creature with a heart "two sizes too small", lives on snowy Mount Crumpit, a steep, 3,000-foot (910 m) high mountain just north of Whoville, home of the merry and warm-hearted Whos. His only companion is his faithful dog, Max (a redbone coonhound). From his perch high atop Mount Crumpit, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Envious of the Whos' happiness, he makes plans to descend on the town and, by means of burglary, deprive them of their Christmas presents, holiday ham and decorations and thus "prevent Christmas from coming." However, he learns in the end that despite his success in stealing all the Christmas presents and decorations from the Whos, Christmas comes just the same. He then realizes that Christmas is more than just gifts and presents.
As I relate the characters and story lines in my mind, I of course saw the similarities plain as day. Osama bin Laden is much like the Grinch, and we American's are much like the Whos of Whoville. Osama bin Laden had a deep hatred of Americans and our way of life for years. He spent much of his time on earth in caves and hiding from the public's eye. He hated Americans and all that we stood for as a country, so he spent most of his life plotting to destroy us and our way of life. He wanted to rob and take away from us the one thing that we value and hold so high, our freedom. He decided on sneak attacking us when we least expected it and taking significant things of ours... things that make us stand out, things we are proud of, things of material value. The most significant of those possessions were the twin towers, the World Trade Center, in NY City. He orchestrated the events of 9-11-01 and succeeded in destroying those possessions of ours and in return, most unfortunately, we lost thousands of our loved ones lives as well (which can never be replaced). Yet, Osama failed to realize with his small heart that he may break our toys and break some of our bones, but he can NEVER break us and what we stand for as a nation... so to his surprise, his callous actions had an opposite affect. We did not run scared or coward down to him and his disgraceful acts. We did not grow hateful of our government or lose our unity as a country. We did not hide or live in fear. Although bruised and battered, we took immediate action... and once the "bitter black darkness" in the form of a morbid dust had cleared from the sites of his sinister destruction, We The People (all races and ages) came out with our heads still held high, hand in hand, heart to heart, held our Flag up high and sang... much like the Whos in Whoville when they woke up without their Christmas presents on Christmas Day. We The People of The United States of America, came out and held on tight to each other with an undying love, an unbreakable unity and we sang our anthem together. We sang it with tears. We sang it with joy. We sang it loud. We sang it clear. We sang it PROUD. And we still come out, join together in the same exact way and sing it today.
GOD BLESS AMERICA. 9-11-01: WE WILL NEVER FORGET.
