I can honestly say that since 9/11/01 there have been very few days when my memory has not echoed with the sights and sounds from that September day in New York City, the Pentagon and that lonely field in Pennsylvania.  I could not imagine how the people responsible for those murders could hate so much.  It seems that when you blame others for everything thing that has gone wrong in your life, you tend to develop hate.  Of course when you are raised in a culture of propaganda the road is not clear.  I was however proud of my nation and its response to this horror.  So many nations have had similar experiences.  I admit that I never thought it could happen here.

The bell of freedom and democracy is ringing in much  of the world right now.   Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria.  Before that Iraq and Afghanistan.  The road to freedom is rocky.  It is filled with set backs and perils.  Will those that aspire to the new government actually present a true democracy?   Yet through all of this people live and people die to achieve freedom.   It always amazes me when any given people willingly give up their freedom.  Their right to self-determination.  So much pain is felt and blood is shed to gain freedom yet there has always been those that give up those freedoms when they succumb to the seduction of an easy life where the government, not you are responsible for your happiness.   Where you will be safe and taken care of.  It’s a message of deceit.   The challenge of life is also the joy and satisfaction of life.

As an American (and proud of it) with a mix of blood (Danish, German, Irish & Menominee Indian) I struggle to understand the culture of tribalism.  In America we come from everywhere and we come from here at the same time.  Being an American is what we share.  Even Native Americans with their great tribal heritage understand that life here works when you are an American first.   Yet a good 80% of us have become tribal without realizing it.   Liberal/Democrat or Conservative/Republican.  We decide what tribe we belong to (at least that is a free choice) and we learn to hate from the perspective of our tribe.  We accept what our tribe does even when we know it is wrong, and we hate the other tribe even when they do something good.  It ceases to be about issues and instead is about tribes.  Political death is possible when your tribe is more important than your country and the kind of government you accept.

September 11, 2001  

We will forever feel the pain of all of those innocent people who were taken from  us.  Our hearts will forever soar with the spirits of all of those unselfish heroes who gave everything to save others.  You cannot kill the human spirit.

God bless