Rising

The Saddest of Days

What a day Sunday was.  The 10th aniversary of the 9/11 attacks.  A tradegy of epic proportions.  The many memorials I watched were heartwrenching.  Ten years later and there is no diminishing of the pain, the loss and the grief.  However the day ended for me on a high note.  I watched the Science Channel's "The Rising."  I was uplifted by the efforts and progress that have been made at Ground Zero. 

Ground Zero is fast losing that name.  That name implies a scene of catastrophic destruction.  And it once was but a bold and ambitious plan has been in motion for years now.  The two towers will be replaced with four.  A memorial and museum will be constructed as well as a massive transit hub.  This place where so many died and were obliterated is now becoming a placed where many can find closure and peace and look to a brighter future.

Out of the pit of death and destruction that was once Ground Zero, a set of new edifices rise.  They bring peace and closure to the past and scream at our enemies that we are still here, still standing.  It reminds me of the scene from Antwone Fisher when he confronted his evil foster mother.  "It don't matter what you tried to do, you couldn't destroy me! I'm still standing! I'm still strong! And I always will be."

I am drawn to this Rising because it evokes a similar emotion within me as does this restoration project. These sacred and special places reduced to a shadow of what they once were.  Yet we are inspired to rebuild and create special meeting places for the living to gather, reflect and ponder the deeper meanings of life.  A place to hope for a brighter future.  I do not presume to suggest that the Cathedral is on the same emotional level as Ground Zero.  But I am unusually moved by the rebuilding efforts there and it fuels my zeal for what I am doing. 

The kinship of these two places lies in the human spirit's desire to rise.  We lift our eyes up, we keep our spirits high and we have high aspirations.  It is fitting that from the depths of our greatest tragedies we will endeavour to rise to a new and better future.  This, I believe,  is not a coincidence.  Our Lord and Saviour rose from death and went to heaven to prepare a place there for us.  I think we are following this path.

I dedicate this post to the glory of God and in heartfelt sympathy to families and friends of those who died on this tragic day.  May the souls of the departed rest in peace and rise victoriously in glory.

An artistic impression of the New World Trade Center