Sept. 12: reflecting in the sunshine of the next day

When four airplanes were hijacked and steered into the twin towers, the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania countryside, the United States of America saw the first overt military action on its own shores since Pearl Harbor. Had President Roosevelt been a witness to Sept. 11, 2001, perhaps he might say that he truly knew the meaning of "infamy." The sadness, violence and grief of that date were unique; they were profoundly awakening. The images we have — the explosions, the falling bodies, the weeping wives and tearful citizens — are the images we can only hope younger generations have only as lessons of a distant history. For one moment in our national mind, hope seemed lost.

Sept. 12, 2001, a date that seems oddly out of place in the canon of historical dates, stands out to me as one that was just as important. On that day, billions — billions — of people reached out the victims. Conservatives and liberals, Northerners and Southerners, they all gave time, spent money or even died in the effort to help their fellow man. Perhaps even more amazing, citizens of the world came together to wish goodwill on the Americans. Germans and Japanese, who both knew crushing defeat at our very hands a half century ago — not so long in the timelines of nations — now sent their aid, their wishes and their love. The same citizens who would later protest against the United States in the streets of London, Jakarta and Rio De Janeiro actually came out and said prayers in many languages that God might guide us through these hard times.

This is remarkable in that we as a country haven't always been forthright. We have sometimes been guilty of poor decisions that have lead to war, to suffering. It is also remarkable because we have so much, because they have so little, and yet they knew no envy in those moments of prayer. It is remarkable yet again because until then, they had known so much suffering and anguish while we had known so little. Perhaps they could finally empathize with us. Ultimately, it is truly, truly amazing because those people, humans just like us, sent us their love for no reason other than that we were people too.

Which is why, in all sincerity I say that today, Sept. 12, not Sept. 11, should be our day of reflection. It is on that day that we saw the first ray of hope in our struggle to be unafraid and unburdened. All too often these last two years, the spirit of Sept. 11 has ruled, the spirit of sadness or revenge, death and destruction. Even within our own nation, the battles are fought bitterly, and the times seem just a bit heavier. Perhaps we should try and live more of our lives in the sunshine of the next day, the day when love emerged, and less in the shadow of that first day, when there seemed to be no love at all.

Ian Martinez '01 is a graduate student at Georgetown University. He can reached at imm4@georgetown.edu.