Forgiveness on 9/11?

(Originally posted after 9/11)

It was a day that changed our lives. Not “those”, not “them”, but all of us. In the most heinous act in U.S. history our Free World will never be the same. Hundreds of children lost parents that day. I’m taking this opportunity to teach mine. In our neighboring city of Tempe, AZ they have created a “Healing Field”. Such a beautiful name for a place that bears the name of so many souls who have moved on. In a huge volunteer effort, people have placed 2,998 flags in a park there. One to mark the name of each murder victim. My original intention for taking my children was to pay our respects and remember those who are gone. It’s so important for me to teach them to think of others and realize there is a world outside there own. No, we don’t personally know any of them, but we could have. What we DO know is that so many were mommies and daddies who left for work that morning and never came home that night. I want my children to think about those children. What an opportunity to learn that life can be over in moments. I’m sure any of those children would trade all they have to get their parents back. The X-boxes, the PlayStations, the Bratz dolls, IPODS and so on. I want to turn this tragic day around in my children’s minds’ eye. It’s a day that should remind us of gratefulness. I want my children to be grateful for who they have today, not what they have.
It’s been said that we paid the price for Freedom that day. In my own personal life, freedom is a value that I hold as one of my top three. I cherish freedom and appreciate it daily. When I talked to my children this morning about the event and why it’s important to remember, I spoke of freedom. We should respect, honor and cherish it. There’s no other country like ours! I found myself trying to explain that some people that day were bad people, people with bad intentions and ugliness in their hearts. And yet, really they are also people who believed SO strongly in their own beliefs and convictions they were willing to die for them. Sadly, they took thousands of others with them. I want my children to live with strong convictions and beliefs and what I’m trying to teach in this moment is “At what cost?”. Be clear that your beliefs and values come from a place of love. A place that supports your dreams and never at the cost of others.
As I’m explaining that the airplanes hitting the buildings were no 'accident', I realized an incredible metaphor. Think about a plane flying in the sky...free, unrestricted, able to move, able to rise and descend with no support other than an engine and computer inside. Nothing external makes the plane operate. It’s like life isn’t it? Let’s live this! Live your dreams...free, unrestricted, move. Rise above all with the use of your brain, body and heart to guide you. Those planes are symbols of everything this country stands for. Teach your children the power of harnessing good energy in the right direction...and the consequences if you get off course.
So for now, in my opinion, the biggest lesson of all. Forgiveness? Forgiveness. Yes, without it we carry anger and despair. We are only hurting ourselves. They’ve hurt our country, damaged our spirits and created fear. We now have the choice to forgive. It’s our only chance back on the road to freedom. It seems unforgivable, and this time I admit an incredibly challenging lesson to teach. Because, if I teach it...I must live forgiveness and know forgiveness. But as I said before, freedom is golden to me. This is the single thing that motivates me to let go of the anger, the hate, the disgust. I WANT TO LIVE FREE! When we left the Healing Field today there was a light breeze. All 2,998 flags were waving as if to say “Goodbye, you are missed.” and today we wave and say “Thank you for the lessons you left behind for us to learn. We commit to living life... in honor of yours." We have never needed to learn more about the act of forgiveness than we do in our modern times.

My family will live with equally strong convictions as the terrorists. Today and every day to follow, my children and I will be grateful, we will show respect and we will work on forgiveness as our lessons from 9/11. This is because I believe 2,998 people want it so...
Remember parents...YOU ROCK!!!