How to Honor September 11th

I read this on Britt’s blog:

A September 12th Moment, Take Two There’s a lot of talk this week about the opportunity we had 5 years ago today to harness the world’s support into a golden age of cooperation and common sense to combat bankrupt policies and divisions to defeat terrorism.[Britt Blaser – Escapable Logic]

He writes more good stuff. This post is a tangent to that idea above, but an important one.

We’ve had 5 years of trying to honor September 11th, 2001 in some way. For many people I know, it is an awkward day. I don’t know how else to put it. It is not a holiday. (As Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes the other night, we need a name for days like the Kennedy Assassination and September 11th that isn’t “Holiday.” ) People want to honor the day, and remember the people who died. But they don’t know how not to go to work. They’d rather be doing something else. They may attend memorials in their towns, or watch the ones on TV. But there is a deeper thing at work here.

It is my sense that people in this country want to take action to show that the brave people who died on planes, in office towers, and the halls of government are being honored. That those brave people, and the even braver rescuers – the ones who wore uniforms, and the ones who didn’t – did not die in vain.

We as a nation want to continue to honor and cherish their memory, and also to honor those who, upon hearing of the tragedy, did what Americans tend to do – they helped. 

After September 11th, in my area, a local food bank took clothing, boots, food, cleaning supplies, and trucked it to the World Trade Center. I saw all my neighbors there giving supplies. And everyone knew they were there because help was needed, and they couldn’t go dig on the pile, so they bought and brought. That’s what felt good and right to do.

Could we turn September 11th into a day of community service for America?

Could it be a day where we wake up, we’re thankful we’re alive to see the day, and (if it is not our daily routine) we go out and show others how thankful we are?

Could we clean the park, paint the firehouse, deliver meals to the infirmed, build a playground, create a house with Habitat for Humanity, send food and clothing to people in Louisana who may still need help? We can do that any day, I know. That takes a lot of effort, but thank God there are people who do that.

Could we give people the excuse, the permission, the emphasis that’s needed by making that day a day to do good work? To remind us of the spirit of America?

I say we can, and we should. Send your thoughts.