It is impossible for me to fully process what I have just seen (National Geographic's "Inside 9/11"). My earlier posts seem trivial, petulant, even foolish. This whole story – the West's struggle with Islam – is bigger than any one, or any ten thousand minds, can comprehend.
Tonight, I have cried. I have shouted out profanities. I have called out to God (as one woman screamed out in the WTC dust cloud for Jesus to save her).
But I have not suffered. Everything around me is comfortable, safe, stable.
For now.
A New York Muslim falls as he tries to escape the imploding tower. A Hasidic Jew stands over him, reaches down. "Brother, take my hand. Let's leave this place."
A moment of choking, smothering chaos. Suddenly, a hand of Shalom, of Salaam. The Good Samaritan. Love thy neighbor. Love your enemies.
Breathtaking, in more ways than one.
Of course, Osama bin Laden's quote posted at the end of the film, is a mindbender: We love death, the U.S. loves life. That is the difference.
It is the difference indeed.
Contratimes
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