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I don't normally have any problems with Louis' musings, although I will confess I rarely read all of them. But I was a bit surprised, in the light of the earlier postings to the list, that there was no reaction to them, which makes me fear a bulk mailing of this and earlier postings. Are we being spammed folks? Peter. Louis_Schmier <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > After my walk this pre-dawn morning, I sat out by the fishpond > enveloped by blissful darkness. It was the total darkness of the woods > where everything disappears. Nevertheless, the darkness mysteriously > soothes. Being sightless, sounds seem to multiply and heighten. They > enhance the dark. Undistracted mental images sharpen. > > It is Rosh Hashonah. I didn't have to make the transition I > normally make from my head to my heart. I was already inside myself. I > had gone there a week ago in response to the horrible events in > Pennsylvania, New York, and Washington. As I sat in synagogue these past > two days, I realized that Rosh Hasonah, the Jewish New Year, comes with a > great gift: the opportunity to begin again. And in a perverse way, > because of the terrorists, we Americans have been given the gift to open a > new page and it is up to us to decide what the pen of life will record. > > I and my family have just returned from a grueling zig- zag trip up > the east coast to Boston in order to attend the wedding of our nephew. We > had tickets to fly on Friday, didn't think we would make it, changed them > to Saturday, didn't think we would make it, changed them from > Jacksonville-Boston to Atlanta-Providence, left Valdosta at midnight, > drove almost fours hours to Atlanta, thought we had made it, waited in the > empty airport, found our flights were cancelled, didn't think we were > going to make it, got new flights, we and bags were thoroughly searched, > passed uniformed and armed air marshals, flew, drove from Providence to > Boston, made it, arrived three hours before the wedding-- fifteen tiring > hours with almost not sleep after we left Valdosta. On Monday, we > zig-zagged by car and plane and car another fourteen hours back to > Valdosta. > > I have admit I was feeling a tad uneasy, almost guilty, about > celebrating in the midst of death and destruction. But, I strongly > felt that life takes precedent over death. The rabbi officiating > at the ceremonies understood this. She explained that we who had traveled > were there because of our strong sense of family and friendship. She > wisely told of the Jewish tradition that when a funeral procession meets a > wedding party, the former gives way to the latter. It is more than a > symbolic embracement of life. It is a commitment to life, the rabbi > reminded us. Life goes on. Life is good. > > I saw and felt that persistence in life, that commitment to live, > in the wee hours of Atlanta. A man entered the airplane slowly waving a > small American flag saying, "F--- the terrorists." He defiantly nodded > his head and smiled. There was applause, mine included. Tears came to my > eyes. I don't think I was the only one. I, too, felt a patriotic > obligation to fly. Maybe the planes that crashed into the Towers and the > Pentagon also shattered our complacency. More importantly, they awakened > our consciousness out from a taking-for-granted stupor and slammed into > our psyche to remind us who we are. That man colorfully said it all. > Buildings are structures. They even may be symbols. They are not that > indefinable but powerful American spirit. And if it was the > American-thrashing and American-hating terrorists' intent to destroy our > will to go on living, they will be defeated by people such as this man who > refuse to let that spiritual destruction happen. > > It is wrong to think that America goes on unchanged. It is also > wrong to think that America is utterly changed. It's okay to be nervous > and even afraid. The thing is not to let that nervousness and fear > control you. Things may not be the same, but they will be okay in another > kind of way and in the same way. And so, on that plane, I also felt a > firmer resolve to go on being an American. > > I cherish my basic freedoms, civil liberties, and the sanctity of > the individual. In this struggle, whatever the contrary temptation, we are > invited and challenged to protect our rights and freedoms. It is the only > right thing to do. It is the only right way to do things. We don't need > another set of blotting and smudging Alien and Sedition Acts. We need to > write clear and fine words and phrases. To leave those freedoms and > liberties we so cherish unaltered, not to forget who we are, to retain > dearly what we value, and remember how we should live is an essential part > of winning in this "war." No, it is THE essential part. If we don't, as > we've lost before we've begun to fight. > > And so, I don't think at all of the rhetoric of "crusade" or the > "first war of the 21st century" or "dead or alive." I think most of the > public statements that the FBI, while in the midst of this crisis, while > it is engaged in a massive hunt for the perpetrators of this hienious > attack, will with equal vigor pursue hate crimes launched against innocent > Arab and Muslim Americans. That is a powerful statement of what we are > all about. > > Of all the pictures I've seen on TV and in print, the most > powerful image burned in my soul during these terrible days is not that of > a plane hitting a building or of the collapse of structure mesmerizing as > they may be. It is that of three heroic NY firemen raising the flag over > the rubble as if it was a reenactment of the marines on Iwo Jima. In > those firemen and the police, lead by real values to risk and lose their > lives, we saw that as steel and glass and concrete collapsed, the American > spirit rose up stronger than it ever has been in a long time. I saw > images of death and destruction born from a hateful womb. I also saw with > pride images of courage, generosity, and strength emerging out from a > compassionate womb. I saw resolve, character, and the resurrection of a > spirit that has brought us together. I am not ashamed to admit that I > cannot count how many times I was brought to tears. I was reminded that > love of country is really love of this country values, liberties, and > freedoms. It is the glue that binds all of us diverse people together into > one people. "I love America" doesn't mean a thing if we don't care about > and care for and love one another. > > And to all those extremists on the left and right, I now say we > are a good people. We are not a perfect people. We have built a just > place to live, a fair place to live, and a decent place to live. We have > not built a perfect palce to live. The American spirit won't be > conquered. We'll preserve what we have and write to improve on it. We > will defiantly rebuild and live. Others places have risen from greater > ashes: London, Sarajevo, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, Berlin, > London, Beirut, San Francisco, Chicago. And so will New York and > Washington. > > Those terrorists reminded me who I am. They reinforced who I am > as an American and more importantly as a human being. I will not--I > cannot even if I wanted to--separate my mind and body from my heart. And > when I return to class today, this is who and what I will share and > discuss with students when they inevitably will ask me today if I had felt > a "fear of flying." > > > Make it a good day. > > --Louis- - > > > Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com > Department of History www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html > Valdosta State University > Valdosta, GA 31698 /~\ /\ /\ > 229-333-5947 /^\ / \ / /~\ \ /~\__/\ > / \__/ \/ / / \ /~\/ \ > /\/\- / /^\_____\____________/__/_______/^\ > -_~ / "If you want to climb mountains, \ /^\ > _ _ / don't practice on mole hills" - \____ >