Ground Zero
Ground Zero…. What a historic tragedy and crime against humanity, a "…Day of Infamy" as President Franklin D. Roosevelt said long ago. A day that changed the direction of the human race forever and a day that a nation grieved as the world on Earth felt great sorrow. Those who gave their lives in an instant could not know the impact our loss was to be. It is a pain that grows with time and becomes part of our being even to a cellular level. Those that do not feel the pain are not sentient beings upon this plain. 9/11 was more than an emergency number our nation calls for help. It has become awake up call for all that believe in what is good, kind and necessary for life - compassion for others that we cannot forget and we must learn to practice, reminding us all of another Ground Zero - Hiroshima.
For on that "…Day of Infamy" a bank safe remained standing among the ruins. Everything tangible was destroyed like the World Trade Center (WTC), leaving only a reminder in its pillars that the human spirit cannot be eliminated. The spirit of invention, fortitude and life itself was left in the rubble of catastrophe. We are all responsible for this tragedy that is tearing us apart with hatred, fear and misery. To blame is unethical for we all have a duty to respect life, every life and all that it entails. This evil that we propagate is still here and has been around for more years than anyone can know or should know. What happened on 9/11, at Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor, in the concentration camps, on the slave ships and every great persecution throughout recorded time, all fall upon our shoulders. No one is without shame.
As we rattle our sabers and march in the streets, every nation must look to itself before going elsewhere to judge. For whatever principle we believe in, faith or ideal we hold true, we must grasp onto the hope of a better tomorrow. One without violence and hate
for we fear what we do not understand. The line between hate and fear is narrow only to be blurred by our blinding ignorance and pride.
As my father has told me many times; "Rise above it son." These words are simple and powerful yet the lesson is not easily learned. If only we could learn how as a nation, a people and most importantly, a species. We are the ones that hold the key to the future. If we do not hold this key in the light of honesty, truth, justice, and forgiveness,we are all doomed to despair for all eternity.
The time is now to teach the children by example at all times so we may survive our future and secure all life itself, as we know it. We must think globally and universally
at every moment for the good of all life on Earth far into a brighter tomorrow.
John Daniel Robey
September 6, 2002
S.A.G.