Who Can We Turn To? Who Can We Talk To? Who Can Make Sense of What’s Going On? What should I do? What should I be doing?

The answers are simple, straightforward and quite basic; and that is our faith. Regardless of what or who we believe in, the fact that we have faith in something that is greater than we are can be the "straw" that will keep us from drowning.  I so believe that nothing could have been done to prevent this tragedy at this time. I believe that the ultimate sacrifice of these heroic souls should always be remembered by way of a holiday, a concrete memorial, a list of names of families-something, lest we forget.

Our feelings are strong as we process this atrocity. First we have shock, then anger, then grief and finally resolve. Wherever you are in this framework, please know that you will move through at your own pace.

An interesting analogy was told to me by an astute theologian, that I would like to share with you. You need to have a King James Bible or a Book of Psalms to follow along. Using the 91st Psalm as a conveyer of prophecy begin to read very slowly each word in each verse. Try to keep your mind open, in other words, not being attached to any belief system or any formal religion. You may see it or you may choose not to see it, but I believe there is some merit to being aware of a deeper message.

From verse 1 through verse 6 there is a description of a high official who represents himself under the banner of religion. Even the words "terror by night" and "arrow that flieth by day" (shaped like a plane). Verse 7 that states "A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at they right hand" speaks about what is to come however, the next statement which says, "but it shall not come nigh thee", resembles Passover. Whatever pestilence or plagues will not come over thee if you follow certain instructions. It seems that the Passover season may be another time to target any nation. We don’t know but we must stay on guard with our prayers that are explicit for our protection. We must stay committed to daily prayer that is a sincere prayer.

A news release has just stated that all dating services have increased their business by 300% since the September 11th tragedy. The reasons are the fear of being alone, of being selfish for career only; of realizing that life is too short not to be shared with someone special; of delaying the start of family (wife, husband, children). Listening to voices of those who were trapped saying "I love you" caused this domino effect of the realization of great value of family over money, career, fast-lane living. Who can we turn to? We need each other.

This is not a time to argue the point of belief systems or religious persuasions; it is a time for spiritual action to defeat this real living demon. Indeed, we must support our leaders, our chosen warriors, our heroes in battle with our vote of confidence and with our strong prayers of victory. Our passion for justice is based on our passion for freedom and we must do whatever it takes to protect it and to preserve it.

I implore you not to be ashamed or fearful of your feelings or your beliefs. Search out like minds that support your beliefs and bond with them for your stability. Seek truth diligently about what you want to believe, it must feel right to you, otherwise, its not the truth. It is our free will that is the gift from our Maker. It can never be taken away; we are blessed with the act of choice, yea or nay. And it is because of this gift that terrorists abused it by destroying human life.

Be careful of how you judge. Make sure you have all of the facts. Do not be hasty in assuming that a person’s color or a person’s country of birth makes him and his family a threat. We are justified in being fearful but not to the point of accusation and blind revenge. We must contain our fear in a safe place until we can relieve ourselves of this misery.

We don’t need platitudes, cute phrases, or obvious reasoning to guide us through this event but what we do need is faith; belief in our survival as strong human beings that will rise above this demon and destroy it.

Who can we turn to? We can turn to each other of like mind and belief. We can pray with each other, we can talk to each other; we can work with each other in service to the fallen heroes; we can support our world leaders in their resolve to be victorious in getting rid of terrorism and putting an end to these viscous attacks.

This is just the beginning of this type of warfare; however, our most difficult discipline is not to be distracted by fear or the side effects of fear such as revenge, hatred, false accusations, active prejudice on any culture or religion. We must stay connected to our higher selves and our higher beliefs. We must stay committed to our vows and promises of good will. We must be available to be of service wherever we are needed.

Enough talk - enough listening. Now is the time for action, real action. Meaningful action such as financial, physical volunteering and spiritual (I would leave out the word religious) with prayer and above all - psychological - acting in a loving way to all peoples.

We are winners.
We are victorious.
We are the mighty, the strong and the powerful.