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With
everything that has gone on here in New York
over the last 24+ hours, it’s been hard to put words on paper.
A lot of philosophical writing is done with the benefit of
hindsight when things seem clearer, or at least the sting of a bad
situation has subsided enough to examine what has happened more closely.
But now we are in the middle of something big and quite tragic on a
grand human scale. It really
tests our ability to hold onto notions of purpose and a lawful orderly
universe when the who’s, what’s, why’s and full extent of the damage
won’t be known for quite some time.
We analytical types would like very much to make some sense of
this. But we have no answers,
and we share in the incredible sadness for loss of lives and loss of
structural icons that have graced our skyline since the early 1970's.
And then there’s the anger---the terrible anger. But
the flipside of anger is patience.
If we can be patient with ourselves and acknowledge our
feelings of loss and powerlessness we might be able to manage the anger
long enough to see beyond it. As
individuals, as communities and as a nation, we are defined by what we do
at this moment, by what happens right now.
Take this idea very seriously, for through it we can have
tremendous impact on what is to come.
When the past makes no sense, or is full of blame and regrets,
focus on what we can do right now and let’s see what happens.
It takes a lot of courage to break the feelings of victimization,
but for our own sake it’s important to try.
Otherwise our efforts to rebuild will be based on the shaky
foundation of fear and anger rather than strength and determination.
Even from the rubble of destruction, kindness will breed kindness
if we plant the seeds.
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