“How Does 9/11 Still Touch Us, and Shake Us?” – Aleteia

Some events during our lifetime remain frozen in time. Some leave scars that never quite heal.

The sights, the sounds, the emotions, the smells, never leave us.

Although not quite 5 years old, I still vividly recall November 22, 1963. And folks of my mom and dad’s age have often told me that December 7, 1941 was forever seared into their memories.

So too, for this generation, is 9/11/01.

We were forever changed.

Some say that America’s innocence was lost on that November day when President Kennedy was murdered in Dallas.

That’s true in many ways.

But it’s hard for anyone to deny, I think, that 9/11, truly changed each and every one of us, and changed the course of our country in ways that even Pearl Harbor did not.

It certainly reminded us that the oceans that had once insulated us from two world wars were no longer sufficient to protect the mainland from those who wish us harm.

Our security, both our physical and emotional security, were forever breached.

And I have long suspected that many of those now reaching adulthood, those who were children on 9/11/01, hold deep within them the psychological scars of that day. Scars that now appear as increased anxiety, depression, and alienation. At least that’s what I have sometimes observed, if only anecdotally.

Elizabeth Scalia, new Editor-in-Chief (English edition) of Aleteia, recently invited editorial staff and friends to “reflect on how memories of 9/11 show up at unexpected times, and what the events of September 11, 2001 mean to them today.” I am honored to been asked to contribute my own personal reflections.

Here’s a brief excerpt:

It’s a cliché to say that these kinds of triggering events permanently change us, and help us to appreciate more fully the value of our lives and each passing day. A cliché yes, but nonetheless true. I think back often to that day, especially when I pass the office window where we once saw the towers standing tall. And then fall. My appreciation for life is different.

Please be sure to read all of these personal reflections, linked here: How Does 9/11 Still Touch Us, And Shake Us?

They are all quite moving.

Some of my other 9/11 reflections are posted here, at Patheos.

So today, as we look back on the events of that awful day, let us offer up a prayer for those 3,000 souls who lost their lives on 9/11/01, and for the scores of thousands of their loved ones whose lives were also forever changed.

And let us not forget to offer up a prayer of peace and continued healing.

Peace

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Svein-Magne Tunli