I took this photo standing on top of one of the Twin Towers. It was my first trip to NYC. I was fifteen years old. I fell in love with NYC that day and haven’t fallen out since. Today I’m thinking about all the lives lost and altered—and all loved ones devastated by that utterly hateful act on September 11, 2001. I’m thinking of NYC, that field in Pennsylvania, the pentagon—thinking about all of us, and all the ways we’re been impacted because of that day. It changed us. But it also highlighted the goodness in humanity—AKA heroes all around us—something the terrorists cannot undo. Maybe a little like when Biblical Joseph said to his brothers: what they meant for evil, God exchanges for good. Just as we’ve seen from disasters like earthquakes, fires, and hurricanes, beautiful people come out of the woodwork—from selflessly offering a stranger the last generator to the first responders who often exchange their very own life, so that others can live. I see that man in Lowes as another version of a “first responder,” in a way.
The following is an excerpt from a piece I’m working on and it illustrates how just everyday people like you and me can take an awful, unthinkable, impossible circumstance, get in the way of it—and become selfless heroes, creating an Undoble, a chance for love to overtake the hate:
“I’ve seen my share of hijack movies, but none more powerful than “United 93.” I’ve probably seen this depiction of the hijack on 9/11 at least a half dozen times and there hasn’t been one time I didn’t sob uncontrollably at the somehow gradual yet abrupt ending. The sights, the sounds, the emotions—all capturing such fear and bravery of the passengers as they rushed the cabin and overtook the plane. The intensity of the final scene reduces me to a puddle. The passengers—like flying angels—were able to obtain their objective while in the throes of great emotion but still using logic. Somehow, miraculously, they blended both. They gave their lives in the heroic effort.”
I’m thinking about all the lives impacted by 9/11, and all the lives impacted by the recent disasters from fires, hurricanes and earthquakes—no state lines, no borders. I hold them in my heart as I pray for restoration and healing…and for all you heroic first responders?
Thank you for giving us The Undoable, exchanging evil or disaster for selfless love.