IN   MEMORIAM   911 It is 10:22 CDT on September 11, 2002 and the last name has been read.   The Smiths, Patels, Thompsons, Chus, Garcias, and Simons have been remembered in the dust that blows around the site that once marked our efforts at world trade. Many brought flowers to this site.

Man is a creature of the soil, a child of nature; no matter how earnestly he may try to escape from the land, in the last reckoning he is certain to fail. "Dust you are and to dust shall you return" is literally true of all mankind. page 769

One year ago, I wrote a short post to this list about the Trade Towers tragedy of September 11, 2001. I wrote about a dove that perished in my balcony windowbox. I planted some flowers on the grave of this dove.

Early in evolutionary religion the lamb became the typical sacrificial animal and the dove the symbol of peace and love. Page 946

There is a tiny, tiny church next to the site of this tragedy. This church was built in 1776. This rumpled and crumpled church survived the attack. This church was the real target of the terror because it symbolizes the birth of an idea -- the idea of separation of church and state. An idea that we - in the U.S.- take for granted.

One of the great peace moves of the ages has been the attempt to separate church and state. Page 784

They name roses after famous people. Perhaps as a memorial, a garden could be planted next to the church with flowers named after the 3000 persons who died - a Smith hydrangea, a Patel lily, a Thompson bluebonnet, a Chu tulip, a Garcia sunflower, and a Simon mum.

And still further words of comfort did this great teacher speak to his contemporaries:

"And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your soul. You shall be like a watered garden and like a spring whose waters fail not. And if the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a defense against him." Page 1070

And the question remains: What did these people die for?

If men would maintain their freedom, they must, after having chosen their charter of liberty, provide for its wise, intelligent, and fearless interpretation to the end that there may be prevented:

1. Usurpation of unwarranted power by either the executive or legislative branches.
2. Machinations of ignorant and superstitious agitators.
3. Retardation of scientific progress.
4. Stalemate of the dominance of mediocrity.
5. Domination by vicious minorities.
6. Control by ambitious and clever would-be dictators.
7. Disastrous disruption of panics.
8. Exploitation by the unscrupulous.
9. Taxation enslavement of the citizenry by the state.
10. Failure of social and economic fairness.
11. Union of church and state.
12. Loss of personal liberty.Page 798

In memoriam,

M. J. Michael
Houston, Texas

 

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