As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, I'm praying for a little perspective. I'm not one of the "we will never forget" bunch. I think it's time to collectively put the day, the pain, and the horror behind us and move on. Not the people--just the event. Here's why.
As tragic as it was, many other people died that day. Other people lost their parents and grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins due to any number of tragedies. Was their pain less? Did they cry fewer tears because their relatives avoided being in the towers that day? A certain number of firefighters and police lose their lives every day in the line of duty. Are their deaths less important?
My aunt (and several others) died on 8/11 of that year due to faulty filters in a dialysis machine. A tragedy that didn't make the news--even the local news. Someone was at fault, but we don't re-live a play by play of her death every year on 8/11. We remember her life every day.
When we elevate some to mega hero status because they died in a big event, we degrade the status of those who died serving their fellow man in a smaller way.
Some have died fighting a fire in Texas or a house fire in Tonganoxie. Some have died working the floods in Missouri or trying to rescue one child in a pond.
Some have died searching for survivors in Joplin or racing to the scene of an accident on a lonely country road.
Even the grandma who dies in her sleep can be one who leaves behind a legacy of service.
And they leave behind people who loved them.
This Sunday, let's just keep that in mind.
