9/11 is about the last thing to make anyone nostalgic. But at least in 2001 we still lived in a society in which national tragedy brought us together rather than divided us. That is, until the scapegoating began. Now it’s gotten to the point where I dread not what the next 24 years will bring, but rather the next 24 hours. No dona nobis pacems, please. The way to “peace” and a better world is in every one of us. Alas, so are the impediments. If we love our country and our families and value anything good we ever experienced here, thanks to our great good fortune in having lived in a comparatively free, safe, and sane United States, it’s time to grow up and take responsibility for fixing what’s broken, in ourselves and in the world. I realize about five people read this page, and everyone is here to talk about music, but I beg your indulgence for just a few sentences. We must rise above our baser instincts. Reject fomenters. Embrace compassion. Be humane. Can I myself live up to these ideals? Probably not. I get angry when somebody sits in their car checking their cell phone while I’m waiting for a parking space. But I can try harder, and you can too. Because if we don’t, there’s a greater chance of us imploding in suspicion, fear, hatred, and violence than there ever was of our crumbling from external forces like those that, ironically, brought unity in suffering on 9/11.
Tag: Compassion
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Remembering Pope Francis Compassion and Influence
It used to be common sense, handed down by those who learned it through hard experience, never to discuss religion or politics. But I hope it’s uncontroversial to state, regardless of one’s personal convictions or interpretation of Scripture or feelings about the Church, Pope Francis was a good man. He was a voice of compassion in an often cruel world that of late seems to be racing downhill on a banana peel. No one in his position could ever be all things to all people, but the very fact that in at least one of the world’s highest and most influential offices there was an adult with his hand on the tiller was somehow reassuring. May his successor continue to be a moderating influence. R.I.P.
Ennio Morricone, “Mass for Pope Francis”
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