In our town of Willowbrook, IL, inside the police department station there is a memorial to 9/11 that we as a family try to visit every year. It’s a piece of an elevator car from Tower 1. My wife and I show this to our kids and tell them about that fateful day when terrorists attacked 4 planes and 3 buildings and all that the first responders in New York and Washington did to help the survivors.
I’m glad our local police see this reminder every day. It’s a reminder of the devastating power of fear-led belief and its terrible consequences. Those Al Qaeda members that perpetrated the attack and those that planned and supported its execution were all driven by the fear of the differences between our cultures. They fear our beliefs. We fear theirs. Violence is always caused by fear.
My prayer for my kids and my family and this whole world is that the lessons of the power of love and forgiveness and openness and acceptance will be just as strong, hopefully even stronger, than the consequences of fear and violence.