Prayer for the National Discussion Board

America's Tragedy as seen by the World 

The Week in Pictures.

WTC Memorial Site

From a speech made by Capt. John S. McCain, US, (Ret) who represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate:

As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room.

This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home

One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian. Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old. At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School.

Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967.

Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country-and our military-provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt.

Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.

One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could.

The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag.

He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to Pledge our allegiance to our flag and country.

So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Editorial from a Romanian newspaper

An ode to America

Why are Americans so united? They don't resemble one another
even if you paint them! They speak all the languages of the world and
form an astonishing mixture of civilizations. Some of them are nearly
extinct, others are incompatible with one another, and in matters of
religious beliefs, not even God can count how many they are.

Still, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people
into a hand put on the heart. Nobody rushed to accuse the White House,
the army, the secret services that they are only a bunch of losers.
Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed on the
streets nearby to gape about. The Americans volunteered to donate
blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic,
they raised the flag on the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps
and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on
buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a minister or
the president was passing. On every occasion they started singing
their traditional song: "God Bless America!".

Silent as a rock, I watched the charity concert broadcast on
Saturday once, twice, three times, on different TV channels. There
were Clint Eastwood, Willie Nelson, Robert de Niro, Julia Roberts,
Cassius Clay, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Silvester Stalone,
James Wood, and many others whom no film or producers could ever bring
together. The American's solidarity spirit turned them into a choir.
Actually, choir is not the word. What you could hear was the heavy
artillery of the American soul. What neither George W. Bush, nor Bill
Clinton, nor Colin Powell could say without facing the risk of
stumbling over words and sounds, was being heard in a great and
unmistakable way in this charity concert.

I don't know how it happened that all this obsessive singing of
America didn't sound croaky, nationalist, or ostentatious! It made you
green with envy because you weren't able to sing for your country
without running the risk of being considered chauvinist, ridiculous,
or suspected of who-knows-what mean interests.

I watched the live broadcast and the rerun of its rerun for
hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one hundred
floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of
the Californian hockey player, who fought with the terrorists and
prevented the plane from hitting a target that would have killed other
hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to bow
before a fellow human?

Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of
some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone
call, millions and millions of dollars were put in a collection aimed
at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit which nothing can
buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land?
Their galloping history? Their economic power? Money? I tried for
hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases which
risk of sounding like commonplaces. I thought things over, but I
reached only one conclusion.

Only freedom can work such miracles!

On Monday we emailed jokes
On Tuesday we did not
 
On Monday we thought that we were secure
On Tuesday we learned better
 
On Monday we were talking about heroes as being athletes
On Tuesday we relearned who our heroes are
 
On Monday we were irritated that our rebate checks had not arrived
On Tuesday we gave money away to people we had never met
 
On Monday there were people fighting against praying in schools
On Tuesday you would have been hard pressed to find a school where
someone was not praying
 
On Monday people argued with their kids about picking up their room
On Tuesday the same people could not get home fast enough to hug    their kids
 
On Monday people were upset that they had to wait 6 minutes in a fast
food drive through line 
On Tuesday people didn't care about waiting up to 6 hours to give
blood for the dying

On Monday we waved our flags signifying our cultural diversity
On Tuesday we waved only the American flag
 
On Monday there were people trying to separate each other by race, sex,  color and creed
On Tuesday they were all holding hands
 
On Monday we men or women, black or white, old or young, rich or poor,  gay or straight, Christian or non-Christian.
On Tuesday we were Americans
 
On Monday politicians argued about budget surpluses
On Tuesday grief stricken they sang 'God Bless America'
 
On Monday the President was going to Florida to read to children
On Tuesday he returned to Washington to protect our children
 
On Monday we had families
On Tuesday we had orphans

On Monday people went to work as usual
On Tuesday they died
 
On Monday people were fighting the 10 commandments on government
 property
On Tuesday the same people all said 'God help us all' while thinking
Thou  shall not kill'


It is sadly ironic how it takes horrific events to place things into perspective, but it has. The lessons learned this week, the things we
have  taken for granted, the things that have been forgotten or
overlooked,  hopefully will never be forgotten again.

Do It Again, Lord, by Max Lucado

We're still hoping we'll wake up. We're still hoping we'll open a
sleepy eye and think, "What a horrible dream."

But we won't, will we, Father? What we saw was not a dream. Planes did
gouge towers. Flames did consume our fortress. People did perish. It
was no dream and, dear Father, we are sad.

There is a ballet dancer who will no longer dance and a doctor who will
no longer heal. A church has lost her priest, a classroom is minus a
teacher. Cora ran a food pantry. Paige was a counselor and Dana,
dearest Father, Dana was only three years old. (Who held her in those
final moments?)

We are sad, Father. For as the innocent are buried, our innocence is
buried as well. We thought we were safe. Perhaps we should have known better. But we didn't.

And so we come to you. We don't ask you for help; we beg you for it. We don't request it; we implore it. We know what you can do. We've read the accounts. We've pondered the stories and now we plead, "Do it again, Lord. Do it again."

Remember Joseph? You rescued him from the pit. You can do the same for us. Do it again, Lord.

Remember the Hebrews in Egypt? You protected their children from the angel of death. We have children too, Lord. Do it again.

And Sarah? Remember her prayers? You heard them. Joshua? Remember his fears? You inspired him. The women at the tomb? You resurrected their hope. The doubts of Thomas? You took them away. Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

You changed Daniel from a captive into a king's counselor. You took
Peter the fisherman and made him Peter an apostle. Because of you,
David went from leading sheep to leading armies. Do it again, Lord, for we need counselors today, Lord. We need apostles. We need leaders. Do it again, dear Lord.

Most of all, do again what you did at Calvary. What we saw here last
Tuesday, you saw there that Friday. Innocence slaughtered. Goodness murdered. Mothers weeping. Evil dancing. Just as the smoke eclipsed our morning, so the darkness fell on your Son. Just as our towers were shattered, the very Tower of Eternity was pierced.

And by dusk, heaven's sweetest song was silent, buried behind a rock.

But you did not waver, O Lord. You did not waver. After three days in a dark hole, you rolled the rock and rumbled the earth and turned the darkest Friday into the brightest Sunday. Do it again, Lord. Grant us a September Easter.

We thank you, dear Father, for these hours of unity. Christians are
praying with Jews. Republicans are standing with Democrats. Skin colors have been covered by the ash of burning buildings. We thank you for these hours of unity.

And we thank you for these hours of prayer. The Enemy sought to bring us to our knees and succeeded. He had no idea, however, that we would kneel before you. And he has no idea what you can do.

Let your mercy be upon our President, Vice President, and their
families. Grant to those who lead us wisdom beyond their years and
experience. Have mercy upon the souls who have departed and the wounded who remain. Give us grace that we might forgive and faith that we might believe.

And look kindly upon your church. For two thousand years you've used her to heal a hurting world.

Do it again, Lord. Do it again.

Through Christ, Amen.

United.....We Remember

Normally, my day, and the events in it would be of little interest or
curiosity to most of you. Today, however, marked the one week mark
following the terrorist actions. I noted with interest that many radio
stations on my drive to O'Hare were limited in their coverage of the one
week mark. Some elected not to cover it at all, others observed a moment
of silence.

But more importantly, today was the day that United Airlines would
mourn, as a collective. I wanted to be there.

Late yesterday afternoon, 20 foot trucks from an event services company
began to arrive. Each unloading various items that would be suitable for
a party or concern. Except there would be no happiness. No dancing and
no joy. A large stage was set up in the parking lot in front of United's
World Headquarters, complete with stage lighting, porta-potties and
tents for what I presumed would be various participants. We were
informed by our public relations group that there would be a Wreath
Laying ceremony at 12 noon, CDT. I wanted to be there.

This morning, I awoke, and put on a shirt and tie. Normal to most of you
- but at United, it's the abnormal attire. In fact, you're chastised in
a friendly way if you've worn a tie. "You must be interviewing
somewhere!?!?!" is the usual cat call from more than one person. One of
those people is usually your boss. Today, there were no such cat calls,
and no such teasing. Black was the attire of the day for many. People
more comfortable in golf shirts and khaki's wore slacks, shoes and ties.
No one was asked if they were interviewing anywhere.

Our offices are located in the building next to the parking lot that the
ceremony would take place in. We had front row seats as we watched
people in dark suits and ladies with black dresses on point and instruct
the event workers as to where to set things up. Interesting stuff to
watch when you've really got nothing to capture your work attention
since we'd completed our work on the rewrite of the November schedule.

Then the reality of what would happen today hit. We could hear the lone
piper warming up his bagpipes, playing Amazing Grace.

At 11:30 the parking lot was half full, and we decided that if we wanted
to even see the event we would need to go outside. As we walked outside,
we made nervous jokes and discussion about the schedule we'd worked on.
Idle chit chat about the future of United struggled to wrest our minds
away from what was before us. The only exit to the parking lot is via
the main entrance to World Headquarters. The stream of employees was
absolutely unbelievable. Each one of us greeted by United employees who
had apparently worked to plan the event and were likely part of the
crisis team, or our HR group. We were handed a program and our own
personal supply of Tissues.

"No thanks... " I said to the kind tissue bearer.

"You'll need them." she said.

Now I know why.

We lined up facing east, and towards the stage. A stage adorned with a
banner that read: "United.     We remember"

How can anyone forget.

Throughout the crowd, although mostly at the front, United Airlines
pilots and flight attendants had polished their wings, pressed their
uniforms and shined their shoes. The sight of fifty or so pilots and
flight attendants in impeccable uniform, in such a situation, is a sight
that really only someone in this industry can find reflective and
emotional.

At exactly noon - the sound of a lone piper playing his bagpipe,
mournfully, filled the air. Slowly, he emerged from a set of stairs to
the left of the stage. Stepping slowly across to the center at the
completion of the first song. In his full and complete regalia - kilt,
hat and all the trimmings. He faced the throng of United employees - we
estimate at around 2,000 - took one long inhalation and began playing
Amazing Grace.

Why didn't I take one of the tissues.

When the piper had exhaled his last note; he turned sharply to his left,
tucked the pipe under his left arm, and marched proudly off stage.

Rono Dutta, President of United,  spoke to the employees and reminded
all of us that humanity is stronger as a result of adversity. I'm just
not sure that this is the kind of adversity I was thinking of. He was
followed by a reading of a poem.

Andy Studdert was next to speak - our Chief Operating Officer. As he
took to the stage, one of our Boeing 747-400's, the largest passenger
airliner to fly, departed from O'Hare. Flying under the strain of a fuel
load sufficient to take it to Asia - Tokyo to be exact. As it departed,
it passed just over the western edge of the headquarters grounds. And as
it did - the pilots at the front of the crowd brought their hands to the
brim of their hats, saluting the queen of our fleet, and their
co-workers as they departed.

Why didn't I take one of the tissues.

As Andy finished his remarks, a wreath, perhaps four feet across,
followed Andy's reading of the position and full name of  each United
employee killed in the events of September 11, 2001. Each wreath was
delivered by a member of that flight attendants class, or someone close
to him or her, and placed on a stand on stage for all to see. To watch
proud and stalwart United Airlines Captain's, in full uniform, silver
gray hair and that upright, firm walk that all airline Captain's seem to
have, deliver the wreaths of their fallen friends, and then wipe tears
from their eyes is unbearable. Flight attendants, none older than maybe
30, delivering the wreaths of their friends, wiping tears from their
eyes is heart wrenching.

After the last wreath was laid, a lone trumpet player ascended the
stairs. Standing behind the center most wreath, he began what we now knew
would come. Taps.

Why didn't I take one of the tissues.

When taps was just about done - 14 white doves were released over the
crowd.

Why didn't I take one of the tissues.

JUST ONE QUESTION!

Now that the President has called us to prayer.....

Now that Congress has called us to prayer.....

Now that our Governor has called us to prayer....

Now that the NY City Mayor has called us to prayer....

Now that the "liberal" media and most other branches of our American society have called us to prayer.....

And now that our churches are assembling in special prayer....

Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, I have only one question..

Would it be O.K. to pray in our schools........??

An American Citizen & Christian

 They hit us in September, this evil from the sky
They took out our twin towers and left us asking why
They hit us without warning, these cowards and their clan
We took tremendous loses, with our planes in their hands

I can tell you one thing, one thing I know is true
You knock us down, we get back up
Because we're Red, White & Blue

The White House was a target and the Pentagon hit instead
The death toll is astonishing, and we are seeing red
The President has been notified and the military is on call
We put our faith into their hands, they will protect us all

I can tell you one thing, one thing I know is true
That we will come together now
Because we're Red, White & Blue

The terrorists have hit their mark, the damage has been done
They think they'll bring us to our knees, but their battle is not won
Our lives they must continue now and day will follow night
To terrorist I say these words "We've not yet begun to fight"

I can tell you one thing, one thing I know is true
No matter what they do to us, we are Red, White & Blue  

"We'll go forward from this moment"

Leonard Pitts, Jr.

 Published Wednesday, September 12, 2001

It's my job to have something to say. They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause. Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve. Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak.  You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.

IN PAIN

Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.

But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future. In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms.

We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.

THE STEEL IN US

You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold. As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.

So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us?

It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.

  Quotes of the Day.

When asked what is taking so long, the President replied: "When I take action, I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt." __________________________________ When Ed Green, the News 4 weather man was asked what the five day forecast for Afghanistan is, his response was: Two days.

National Prayer
Lord, we come to You on bended knee,
heads bowed and our hearts filled to overflowing
with so much grief for the many people who have 
been injured and killed in our National crisis.
We ask you Lord, to give courage
and strength to those who so bravely
go to their aid. And though their hearts will
be heavy and filled with sorrow we ask Lord
that You give them the endurance needed
to help them through this difficult task.
Please give us the strength Lord,
to get through each difficult and devastating
 day that faces each of us and our country.
Protect and guide our Military that
are now being called to duty.
We ask Lord, that You guide the leaders
of our great country in their hour of decision.
The burden that has been placed on their
shoulders during this crisis is overwhelming.
We ask that with Your infinite wisdom you
guide them gently to the right decisions.
And lastly Lord, we ask that you
allow us all to come together as a Nation,
 to stand tall and united, so that we might
help each other in our hour of need.
Amen

 May God Bless America!

This is a personal letter to Mr. Bin Laden,

Sir I would like to thank you for taking the time out to send a few of your willing workers of hate and deception to this country to attempt to destroy us.In the process of trying to terrorize us to death, the hand of God stepped in and still got glory within your evil and deceptive plan to put fear in the hearts and minds of the American people.1. Thank you for showing and allowing our President and past Presidents to Worship and pray together in the same Sanctuary.2. Thank you for having Congress bow at the Feet of Jesus and ask for forgiveness and ask for the Lord's strength in leading the nation's people.3. Thank you for allowing Prayer in the schools once more and having our children across the nation be able to ask God for strength and protection throughout their school day.4. Thank you for letting employers give workers time to pray and worship our Savior during their work hour.5. Thank you for showing us that it is the hand of God that allows us to be here day in and day out, we are not just here on our own.6. Thank you for leading more people back to church in one day to get things right with God than all the witnessing of all the Christians in this country could do in one year.7. Thank you for waking us up and letting us know that people still care in this country and that we are bigger than the problems in this country.8. Thank you for reminding us that racial, religious, and cultural hatred is useless and nothing good comes from harboring it.9. Thank you for letting us again understand why on our money it says in God we trust, we sing God bless America and what true patriotism is.10. Most of all Mr. Bin Ladan now that the Lord is on our side, Thank you for letting him take his rightful place on the battlefield, so you will know that he will have the victory His word says...If two or three gather in my name it is done.So in all, we thank you very much for strengthening our faith in God and our love for our fellow American no matter what color, race, creed or religion.

A Proud American Citizen ... and a Soldier in the Army of the Lord...

Friends,

      I am sure you feel as helpless as I do in the aftermath of Tuesdays
attack on our country.  I heard an idea on the radio as I was working in the
barn this morning and I want to pass it along.

      You realize of course, that the buildings and aircraft and people were
not the real target for this attack.  The target was our country and the
freedoms which we enjoy.  This group seeks to destabilize and demoralize our
country and they count on our citizens to be weak and easily panicked.  They
want to see long lines at the gas stations, people hoarding supplies,
merchants gouging citizens, people withdrawing funds from banking
institutions, and our stock market "tanking" in a wild frenzy of selling.

      This is where you come in.....imagine if every one of us was buy 100
shares of your favorite stock when the market opens.  What message will that
send to our enemies?  To me it say's "screw you, and the horse you rode in
on!"  It will buoy our markets and prevent panic selling in the market.  All
that aside, the market is at a recent low and  a year from now, you may very
well be in the black. (No guarantees though, ok?)  Please give this some
thought and do what you think is right.

      Lastly.....do you have an American flag?  If so, get it out and put it
up right now? If not, why not?  'Nuff said.

                                                Yours,

                                                Bryan

The following is a transcript from President George W. Bush's message given on September 14th, 2001. The message was presented during a prayer service at the National Cathedral in Washington.

We are here in the middle hour of our grief. So many have suffered so
great a loss, and today we express our nation's sorrow. We come before God
to pray for the missing and the dead, and for those who love them.

On Tuesday, our country was attacked with deliberate and massive
cruelty. We have seen the images of fire and ashes, and bent steel.

Now come the names, the list of casualties we are only beginning to
read. They are the names of men and women who began their day at a desk
or in an airport, busy with life. They are the names of people who faced
death, and in their last moments called home to say, be brave, and I love
you.

They are the names of passengers who defied their murderers, and
prevented the murder of others on the ground. They are the names of men
and women who wore the uniform of the United States, and died at their
posts.

They are the names of rescuers, the ones whom death found running up
the stairs and into the fires to help others. We will read all these
names. We will linger over them, and learn their stories, and many
Americans will weep.

To the children and parents and spouses and families and friends of
the lost, we offer the deepest sympathy of the nation. And I assure you,
you are not alone.

Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet have
the distance of history. But our responsibility to history is already
clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.

War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This
nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was
begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an
hour, of our choosing.

Our purpose as a nation is firm. Yet our wounds as a people are
recent and unhealed, and lead us to pray. In many of our prayers this
week, there is a searching, and an honesty. At St. Patrick's Cathedral in
New York on Tuesday, a woman said, "I prayed to God to give us a sign that
He is still here." Others have prayed for the same, searching hospital to
hospital, carrying pictures of those still missing.

God's signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy
that his purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private
suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral, are known and
heard, and understood.

There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the
night. There are prayers of friends and strangers, that give us strength
for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will
greater than our own.

This world He created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and
hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance, and love have no end.
And the Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn.

It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true
of a nation as well. In this trial, we have been reminded, and the world
has seen, that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and
brave. We see our national character in rescuers working past exhaustion;
in long lines of blood donors; in thousands of citizens who have asked to
work and serve in any way possible.

And we have seen our national character in eloquent acts of
sacrifice. Inside the World Trade Center, one man who could have saved
himself stayed until the end at the side of his quadriplegic friend. A
beloved priest died giving the last rites to a firefighter. Two office
workers, finding a disabled stranger, carried her down sixty-eight floors
to safety. A group of men drove through the night from Dallas to
Washington to bring skin grafts for burn victims.

In these acts, and in many others, Americans showed a deep commitment
to one another, and an abiding love for our country. Today, we feel what
Franklin Roosevelt called the warm courage of national unity. This is a
unity of every faith, and every background.

It has joined together political parties in both houses of Congress.
It is evident in services of prayer and candlelight vigils, and American
flags, which are displayed in pride, and wave in defiance.

Our unity is a kinship of grief, and a steadfast resolve to prevail
against our enemies. And this unity against terror is now extending
across the world.

America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful
for. But we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the
world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America,
because we are freedom's home and defender. And the commitment of our
fathers is now the calling of our time.

On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask almighty God
to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is
to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in
sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of
a life to come.

As we have been assured, neither death nor life, nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
height nor depth, can separate us from God's love. May He bless the souls
of the departed. May He comfort our own. And may He always guide our
country.

God bless America.

The poem was 
written by an AA employee. 
 
"American, United" 
 
We've always done what we do best, 
Up in the friendly skies. 
And then one awful, fateful day 
We're taken by surprise 
An unseen, unknown enemy 
Attacking us in hate 
And using what has made us proud 
To destroy what's made us great. 
 
We watch in shock the scenes unfold 
We watch in disbelief 
We shake our heads, we wipe our eyes 
Unspeakable, the grief 
And through it all, while it unfolds 
We cannot help but cry - 
American, we cling together 
United, we ask "Why?" 
 
"Please, wake us from this nightmare" 
It all seems so unreal 
We force ourselves to carry on 
In a new world, so surreal 
Lean on each other for support 
Lend others, a helping hand 
American, our dedication 
United, we will stand 
 
We ask each other, "how they dare" 
We cannot understand 
We search for answers, search for meaning 
No answer is at hand 
Hate must not replace sorrow, 
Of this we're very sure 
American, we bow our heads 
United, we'll endure 
 
The unknown numbers, now with God 
As angels, by His side 
Must want for us to carry on 
To not withdraw and hide 
And so, it's in their memory 
That we will hold so long 
American, we will stand tall 
United, we'll be strong 
 
Dedicated to the employees of American Airlines and United Airlines 
In memory of the victims of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 
 
 
Suzanne Moses 
September 13, 2001

Dear Friends,
The following was sent to me by my friend Tamim Ansary.  Tamim is an
Afghani-American writer.  He is also one of the most brilliant people I
know in this life.  When he writes, I read.  When he talks, I listen. Here
is his take on Afghanistan and the whole mess we are in.
Gary T.

Dear Gary and whoever else is on this email thread:

I've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing Afghanistan back to the
Stone Age." Ronn Owens, on KGO Talk Radio today, allowed that this would
mean killing innocent people, people who had nothing to do with this
atrocity, but "we're at war, we have to accept collateral damage. What
else can we do?"  Minutes later I heard some TV pundit discussing whether we
"have the belly to do what must be done." And I thought about the issues
being raised especially hard because I am from Afghanistan, and even though
I've lived here for 35 years I've never lost track of what's going on there.
So I want to tell anyone who will
listen how it all looks from where I'm standing.

I speak as one who hates the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden. There is no
doubt in my mind that these people were responsible for the atrocity in New
York.  I agree that something must be done about those monsters.
But the Taliban and Ben Laden are not Afghanistan.  They're not even the
government of Afghanistan.  The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics
who took over Afghanistan in 1997. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a
plan.  When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think
Hitler. And when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in
the concentration camps."   It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing
to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators.  
They would exult if someone would come in there, take out the Taliban and
clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country.  
Some say, why don't the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban? The
answer is, they're starved, exhausted, hurt, incapacitated, suffering.  A
few years ago, the United Nations estimated that there are 500,000 disabled
orphans in Afghanistan--a country with no economy, no food. There are
millions of widows.  And the Taliban has been burying these widows alive
in mass graves.  The soil is littered with land mines, the farms were all
destroyed by the Soviets.  These are a few of the reasons why the Afghan
people have not overthrown the Taliban.

We come now to the question of bombing Afghanistan back to the Stone Age.  
Trouble is, that's been done. The Soviets took care of it already. Make the
Afghans suffer? They're already suffering. Level their houses? Done. Turn
their schools into piles of rubble? Done.  Eradicate their hospitals? Done.  
Destroy their infrastructure? Cut them off from medicine and health care?  
Too late. Someone already did all that.

New bombs would only stir the rubble of earlier bombs.  Would they at
least get the Taliban? Not likely. In today's Afghanistan, only the Taliban
eat, only they have the means to move around.  They'd slip away and hide.  
Maybe the bombs would get some of those disabled orphans, they don't move
too fast, they don't even have wheelchairs. But flying over Kabul and
dropping bombs wouldn't really be a strike against the criminals who did
this horrific thing. Actually it would only be making common cause with the
Taliban--by raping once again the people they've been raping all this time
So what else is there? What can be done, then? Let me now speak with true
fear and trembling. The only way to get Bin Laden is to go in there with
ground troops. When people speak of "having the belly to do what needs to be
done" they're thinking in terms of having the belly to kill as many as
needed.  Having the belly to overcome any moral qualms about killing
innocent people. Let's pull our heads out of the sand. What's actually on
the table is Americans dying. And not just because some Americans would die
fighting their way through Afghanistan to Bin Laden's hideout.  It's much
bigger than that folks. Because to get any troops to Afghanistan, we'd have
to go through Pakistan. Would they let us? Not likely. The conquest of
Pakistan would have to be first. Will other Muslim nations just stand by?
You see where I'm going. We're flirting with a world war between Islam
and the West.  And guess what: that's Bin Laden's program. That's exactly
what he wants.  That's why he did this.  Read his speeches and statements.
It's all right there.  He really believes Islam would beat the west. It
might seem ridiculous, but he figures if he can polarize the world into
Islam and the West, he's got a billion soldiers.  If the west wreaks a
holocaust in those lands, that's a billion people with nothing left to lose,
that's even better from Bin Laden's point of view.  He's probably wrong, in
the end the west would win, whatever that would mean, but the war would last
for years and millions would die, not just theirs but ours. Who has the
belly for that?
Bin Laden does. Anyone else?

Tamim Ansary

Adapted from a classic story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

The Binch

 By: Rob Suggs

 Date: September 13, 2001

 Every U down in Uville liked U.S. a lot,
 But the Binch, who lived Far East of Uville, did not.
 The Binch hated U.S! the whole U.S. way!
 Now don't ask me why, for nobody can say.

It could be his turban was screwed on too tight.
Or the sun from the desert had beaten too bright,
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

But, Whatever the reason, his heart or his turban,
He stood facing Uville, the part that was urban.
"They're doing their business," he snarled from his perch.
"They're raising their families! They're going to church!

They're leading the world, and their empire is thriving,
I MUST keep the S's and U's from surviving!"

Tomorrow, he knew, all the U's and the S's,
Would put on their pants and their shirts and their dresses,
They'd go to their offices, playgrounds and schools,
And abide by their U and S values and rules,

And then they'd do something he liked least of all,
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Would stand all united, each U and each S,
And they'd sing Uville's anthem, "God bless us! God bless!"

All around their Twin Towers of Uville, they'd stand,
and their voices would drown every sound in the land.

"I must stop that singing," Binch said with a smirk,
And he had an idea--an idea that might work!
The Binch stole some U airplanes in U morning hours,
And crashed them right into the Uville Twin Towers.

"They'll wake to disaster!" he snickered, so sour,
"And how can they sing when they can't find a tower?"

The Binch cocked his ear as they woke from their sleeping,
All set to enjoy their U-wailing and weeping,
Instead he heard something that started quite low,
And it built up quite slow, but it started to grow--
And the Binch heard the most unpredictable thing...
And he couldn't believe it--they started to sing!

He stared down at U-ville, not trusting his eyes,
What he saw was a shocking, disgusting surprise!
Every U down in U-ville, the tall and the small,
Was singing! Without any towers at all!

He HADN'T stopped U-Ville from singing! It sung!
For down deep in the hearts of the old and the young,
Those Twin Towers were standing, called Hope and called Pride,
And you can't smash the towers we hold deep inside.

So we circle the sites where our heroes did fall,
With a hand in each hand of the tall and the small,
And we mourn for our losses while knowing we'll cope,
For we still have inside that U-Pride and U-Hope.

For America means a bit more than tall towers,
It means more than wealth or political powers,
It's more than our enemies ever could guess,
So may God bless America! Bless us! God bless!

A treatise on our President (long but good)

President Bush our leader.....
This was the same man who came within a hair's breadth of losing an election
in November, who withstood the political chicanery of the Florida Democratic machine to fix the vote count.

This was the same man who admitted to having a drinking problem in younger years, and whose happy-go-lucky lifestyle led him to mediocre grades in college and an ill-fated oil venture.

This was the same man who mangled syntax even more than his father,  and whose speaking missteps became known as "Bushisms."

And on Friday, this was the man who bore the weight of the world and the responsibilities of a generation with dignity, class, confidence, appropriate solemnity, and even much-needed wit.

One thing struck me during the campaign, that difficult, roller-coaster campaign that now seems years ago. It was that George W. Bush never seemed to get ruffled. Whether the theft of a campaign debate video or the sudden
(some would say, vicious) release of a DUI arrest two decades ago at a key moment, "W" did not lose his cool. At times, his staff seemed overconfident, as did many of us. A 350-electoral-vote win, they quietly implied . . . and we optimistically believed.

Then they counted the votes, miscounted others, and re-counted still others.  At the end, he was still there. Whereas Al Gore almost frantically huffed and puffed, trying to gin up something out of nothing, Bush quietly but confidently waited at his ranch. He didn't do nothing: that is the mistake people have constantly made with this man, confusing lack of bluster for absence of action. No, his team of attorneys and the iron-willed James Baker were carrying out his orders, but W stayed in the background, confident and faithful. You see, it is this faith business  that confounded everyone. We have had such actors and liars in public office that we have looked skeptically whenever anyone used the term faith.

But this was the same man who was the first politician ever in recent memory to name Jesus Christ as the lord of his life on public TV. Not an oblique reference to being "born-again" or having a "life change." He said the un-PC-like phrase, "Jesus Christ," to which his handlers and advisors, no doubt, off stage, were also saying, "Jesus Christ" in a much different tone.
God has a way of honoring those who honor Him. David learned that while he was on the run from Saul's armies. Job learned that after his time of horrible tribulation. The Messiah said so himself, many times.

So this was the man who actually put faith into practice. He actually loves those who hate him. It is a staggering concept, so foreign in daily occurrence that few thought it anything but grandstanding. Even one of  W's biggest supporters chided the President for adhering to his "new tone."  Yet there he was, again and again, thanking the Democrats. Appointing his enemies to high places in his government. Inviting his former foes and their wives to private movie screenings, and (I know, this is hard to stomach) even treating them with dignity. See, this was the man who learned early on how faith worked: by praying for his enemies, you "heap burning coals upon their heads."

This was the man who named the absolute top people in national security and defense, then caught barbs from the politically righteous that this one didn't have the right views  on abortion or that one didn't have the right position on guns.

And on September 11, at mid-morning, this was the man thrust into a position only known by Roosevelt, Churchill, Lincoln, and Washington. The weight of the world was on his shoulders, and the responsibility of a generation was on his soul. So this same man---the one that the media repeatedly attempted to tarnish with charges of "illegitimacy," and the one whose political opponents desperately sought to stonewall until mid-term elections---walked to his seat at the front of the National Cathedral just three days after the
two most impressive symbols of  American capitalism and prosperity virtually evaporated, along with, perhaps, thousands of Americans. As he sat down next to his wife, immediately I knew that even if his faith ever faltered, hers
didn't. I have never seen a more peaceful face than Laura Bush, whose eyes seemed as though they were already gazing at the final outcome . . . not just of this conflict, but of her reward in Heaven itself. In this marriage, you indeed got two for the price of one.

Then came the defining moment of our generation. Some people fondly recall their Woodstock days. Others mark with grim sadness November 22, 1963, as the day America lost her innocence. But I firmly believe when the history of this time is written, it will be acknowledged by friend and foe alike that President George W. Bush came of age in that cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees.

It wasn't so much his words, though read a decade later, they will indeed be as stirring as any. This conflict would end, he noted, ". . . at a time of our choosing." It certainly wasn't his emotion. What had to have been one of the most stunning exhibitions of self-control in presidential history, he
was able to deliver his remarks without losing either his resolve or his focus, or, more important, his confidence. It was as if God's hand, which had guided him through that sliver-thin election, now rested fully on him.
His quiet confidence let our enemies know . . .  and believe me, they know. . . that they made a grave miscalculation.

Now, this same man who practiced his faith through a tough election, who steeled his convictions even more in a drawn-out Florida battle, and who never once gave in to the temptation to get in the gutter with his foes (well, OK, maybe the "Clymer" comment is an exception), this same man now lifted the weight of the world and the responsibility of a generation and put it on his modest shoulders as though it were another unpleasant duty. As he walked back to his seat, the camera angle was appropriate. He was virtually alone in the scene, alone in that massive place of God, just him and the Lord. But that's the way it's always been in his life recently.

In that brief time it took him to return to his seat, I believe he heard words to the effect of, "You can do this, George. I am with you always. And you can do this well, because I am going before you. And don't worry about the weight. I've got it." And I saw in his eyes a quiet acknowledgment. "I know. Thank you, Lord."

Back at his seat, when W sat down, George H. W. Bush reached over and took his son's hand. I believe that in that fatherly squeeze George H. W. said, "I wish I could do this for you, son, but I can't. You have to do this on your own." W squeezed back and gave him that look of peace that Laura had kept throughout. It said, "I don't have to do it alone, dad. I've got help."

What a blessing to have a professing Christian as President - one who is not ashamed to admit it! Please take a moment after you read this to pray for him - he truly does have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Pray that God will sustain him and give him wisdom and discernment in his decisions.

Make no mistake about it - the decisions he makes in the coming days, weeks and months will literally define the future of our country and the free world. Pray for his protection and that of his family. After you have
prayed, send this to everyone on your e-mail list. Our President needs Christians around the world to be praying for him. As this makes the e-mail rounds, eventually there could literally be people praying for him 24/7!!
He needs it. God bless us all!
(Author Unknown)