9/11 Anniversary 

Today September 11^th is seared into our collective memory…the day when hijacked commercial planes were flown into the Twin Trade Center and the Pentagon, by Al-Quaeda terrorists and the suicide mission outrage, cost the lives of two thousand nine hundred and seventy seven people.

No man is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expedience.  Evil only succeeds if good people do nothing. The passengers on the plane which was intended to hit the White House fought back at the cost of their lives and in so doing saved many. Stricken and profoundly shocked the free and democratic world reeled, but then mourned the dead, recovered and rebuilt.  We will never forget those who perished. The One World Trade Center now stands on what was once a site of carnage and wanton murder.

The mastermind of this appalling day staining human history was Osama Bin Laden. He could and did run, but there was eventually no place for him to hide. A US Military Team located him and as then President Barack Obama said: “So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.”

Let’s no delude ourselves that these crimes were brutal, bestial and the people who committed them behaved like animals. As Mark Twain observed about murder, this is a Human Action!  He bluntly stated: “Of all the animals, man is the only one who is cruel. He is the only one who inflicts pain for the pleasure of doing it. It’s a trait not known to the Higher Animals.”

Mankind encompasses the very best yet also the very worst. The hights and the lows.  On this day of all days, we must continue to strive and find solutions to our problems through peace, kindness and generosity of spirit.  We all live as neighbors in the same world.

As President John F Kennedy once said: “Mankind must put an end to war…before war puts an end to Mankind!

We still have time!