Love and Service: Dateline Libertyville September 11,2009

It is eight years later from the day that the world changed with the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon was attacked and the hijacked plane in Pennsylvania was destroyed in a field. I still remember driving to work, Nestle Clinical Nutrition in Deerfield on the highway, listening to the radio, walking into the office and seeing the horror on my co-workers faces. I remember when the computers would yield no further news, no signal, communications off. I remember driving to my friend Darryl's house worried that the Sears Tower would be a target and would my brother Hank get out of the building should it be hit. I remember going to the Gurnee Mills Mall, just to be somewhere other than in the car or at what was then my home in Wadsworth, a cold, sad place, not wanting to be alone. The mall was not busy, it seemed oblivious to the events going on outside of it.
Eight years later actions that I took then have moved me forward to continued sobriety. Those actions moved me towards returning to college, Shimer College. It changed the trajectory of my life that I left a sick, brutal co-dependent relationship. My sense of loss that day I still feel, the collective loss of the soul energy of the thousands who winked out that day.
So much changed that day on so many levels it still feels astonishing. We have a two country war (Iraq, Afghanistan) A black President and the counter-forces of bigotry, and racism in civil discourse, deeply polarizing forces against spiritual and moral advancement.
Here is a quote for President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress that speaks to my fundamental beliefs in the American people,

"that great unfinished business of our society," he called it -- would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that "it concerns more than material things." "What we face," he wrote, "is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country."
President Obama continued with,
"I've thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days -- the character of our country. One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government. And figuring out the appropriate size and role of government has always been a source of rigorous and, yes, sometimes angry debate. That's our history.

That large-heartedness -- that concern and regard for the plight of others -- is not a partisan feeling. It's not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character -- our ability to stand in other people's shoes; a recognition that we are all in this together, and when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand; a belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgment that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.

This has always been the history of our progress. In 1935, when over half of our seniors could not support themselves and millions had seen their savings wiped away, there were those who argued that Social Security would lead to socialism, but the men and women of Congress stood fast, and we are all the better for it. In 1965, when some argued that Medicare represented a government takeover of health care, members of Congress -- Democrats and Republicans -- did not back down. They joined together so that all of us could enter our golden years with some basic peace of mind.

You see, our predecessors understood that government could not, and should not, solve every problem. They understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. But they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little; that without the leavening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition, the vulnerable can be exploited. And they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter -- that at that point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves."

Barak Obama September 9, 2009
It is a spiritual thing, a test that we must do. It is in our capacity to do the necessary work to "care for the least of these" per Jesus's messages that make this such a momentous and powerful task ahead of us. Blessed Be, dear one's, my heart and love are with you.