A Moment of Silence

I think it’s about time we’ve had a moment of silence.  We never take enough time to just listen to the silent world around us, to use the time to think about things that actually matter, like your family and friends…like other people.  We all need a reminder to simply live for a while.  We need to understand that this moment right now is one moment in a vast history of time.  It’s one moment in our lives that can’t be repeated.  Every second that ticks by in our lives will never be done again.  We have to understand that this life is ours, and everything that happens in it will never happen the same way again.  We need to stop looking towards the future and spend a bit more time in the present.  We need to spend a bit more time just living the way we were meant to.

            This is my 9/11 tribute.  My eyes were reopened a few times already this school year, and I wanted to spend a bit of time remembering with all of you.  Do you remember what it was like then?  Do you remember watching it on the television or listening to the news on the radio?  Wasn’t it hard to believe?  However, it did happen, there’s no denying it.  We can’t turn back time to change it, but we can at least learn from what had happened.  I’m not trying to make everyone lament about it for everyday of their life.  No one should face hat much pain each and every day.  However, it’s good to at least take the time to remember.

            You see, a few days ago at school, we had an inspirational speaker.  He was more like a comedian, but his speech nonetheless touched us all.  He spoke about the seniors in high school, and he spoke about rediscovering the enthusiasm you had as a child, where you would wildly raise your hand in class, even if you didn’t know the answer to the question asked.  Where everyone was your friend, despite gender and race.   We all need to rediscover that enthusiasm, that acceptance.  We all need to understand that everyone around us, all of these people are indeed people just like us.  They bleed, they feel, and they can understand if we try to understand them.  It’s about time we put behind all of the differences, and he was hoping that by our second semester, we would top trying so hard.  We’d stop worrying about college, about the future, and just live in the here and now with our friends and family.

            And then at graduation, he mentioned to us that within the thirty seconds of us leaving the stage and walking down our football field, there would be a lot of hugging.  We’d congratulate people we never spoke to since the seventh grade.  We’d shake hands with the kids we never spoke to, because in the end, we all made it there together.  We all completed a common goal.  Perhaps if everyone shared a common goal, then maybe there wouldn’t be stories of kids being shot at school, or students having hit lists.  Maybe things would be better if we tried a little harder to be human.  Maybe if we all tried a little harder, then no one would die.

            What is it that makes someone want to kill another?  What kind of emotions causes such a heinous act to be committed?  Maybe if we weren’t so diverse, if we weren’t taught from the beginning that these people here are bad and those ones are good, then maybe things could have turned out differently.  Maybe if every child in the world went to one school, were taught the same things, then maybe everything would turn out.  Perhaps then we wouldn’t be able to kill anyone, because we knew them, because we had met people like them.  Because what is it that makes people want to fly a plane into a building?  Why would someone want to kill themselves and so many others?

            I know there are a lot of people in this country that say things like “oh, it was three years ago.  Just forget about it.”  These people obviously don’t get it.  They obviously have never lost someone they care about, because you have to remember that nearly 3000 people died that day.  That’s three thousand less lives, three thousand families with one less family member.  People who were loved were lost, and their family and friends will never be able to forget it.  How would you feel if someone killed your mom, you dad, your brother or sister…how would you feel if you saw your best friend jump from the thirtieth floor, knowing that the second they reached the ground, they were gone?  How would you feel if your family had gotten on a plane…and then had crashed into the pentagon?  Would you be able to forget it?  Would you be able to forget that kind of pain?

            I’m not trying to be mean in any way here, but please just open your eyes and realize that this is a big deal.  I’d like to take the time to mourn for those who were lost.  I want to pray for the ones left behind, and I want to thank God for keeping my loved ones safe.  This day symbolizes a lot of things, and it’s made me open my eyes a bit.  I no longer worry about my future, about where I want to be in ten years or even five years.  I don’t even know what I want to do when I get out of high school.  I’m only concerned in living in the here and now.  That thirty seconds after I graduate…I want to turn it into an entire school year.  I’m going to try to make up for everything, to talk to people I haven’t spoken to in years.  I’m not going to judge anyone based off of their race or age group or status…I’ll get to know them first and then make up my mind

            So let’s just take a moment to remember the day that opened so many eyes.  It wasn’t “no big deal” and we shouldn’t just forget about it, because those who lost someone can’t just forget.  This event has triggered so many problems, but maybe we can become a stronger country because of it.  If you are reading this, then believe me when I say that it doesn’t matter if you’re liberal or republican…it doesn’t matter if you supported president Bush’s decision or not.  But I don’t want to just have us sit back and let those people’s lives have been taken in vain.  I never want to see that many people have to suffer again, and so I want this war to be decided by us.  It’s not right to say “It’s not our problem”, because whether we want it to be or not, it is.  It is because we’re human, because the people suffering and in need of our help are also human.  How can we just ignore them?

            So please take a moment of silence to reflect on what happened.  Reflect on how you felt, how you feel now, and how you’re going to feel when this war ends.  Reflect on what you’re going to do today instead of five years from now.  Think about your friends and family, the people you may end up leaving someday.  Try to take the time to spend with them.  Enjoy each and every second of your life, because you’re never going to get that same second back again.  You’re living in this moment, and September eleventh isn’t meant for remembering the sorrow you feel towards those who died and the hate you feel towards Iraq.  It’s about remembering that this life is yours, that these moments are yours, so please…don’t waste them.