September 12th, 2001
E-Mail by Karl Chamberlain Bio / Address
| The following letter/poem is dedicated to all those who died on September 11th, 2001; and to all those still alive on the morning of the 12th. |
Today
we stand together as Americans, from the least to the greatest, brought
together by our sorrow, our disbelief, our outrage that such a terrible
tragedy, such an immense act of violence, could strike our great nation, our
people as one.
We
stand together not only as Americans, but perhaps as the whole world.
Bound together by the same within each of us, the thunder of our
hearts, the strength within our souls. We
stand unified to take action to prevent and protect against anything like this
ever happening again. Our unity
is not something these terrorists could have counted on.
Perhaps
we can also be brought together by another great principle: the sanctity of
Life. Now I do not mean merely
that convenient catch-phrase, so often used to proclaim that each and every
life has value, but also the intrinsic value within Life. Each moment that passes during the day, each person we touch
by thought or feeling, by word or action. Each moment the sun shines bright;
the sky is blue; the grass is green. To recognize the precious gift we are
each given to cherish, the quivering joy of being alive, even greater, to
share this with others - to remember this each day, to take a moment to
cherish each person, to savor each gesture.
In the midst of our hectic world, to handle each person, and our own
self, in this manner, with compassion and understanding, as a priceless gift;
with such we will not only vanquish the throes of terror, but stand together
to prevent such cruel ignorance and callous arrogance from taking seed ever
again.
By being reminded of this precious unity of hearts, of souls, we can see the shining faces of Life and Joy peeking out from behind the hideous mask of death and terror; despite it all, it is still a very beautiful life. We can unify from the greatest to the least, not only as Americans, but as all of Humanity, with Love, Light and Laughter. Our Strength, Hope and Joy will carry us through the hatred, darkness, and tears that may be shed along this glorious journey, from now until tomorrow. This all begins with just one person; it is your choice, now. "I believe. I hope. It is begun."
Today I am glad
to be an American.
I am glad to be
alive.
With Sincere
Respects,
Karl Chamberlain
PS.
The following poem carries the same dedication.
Beautiful like me
by Karl Chamberlain, poem # 254
A shadow that glides across the drawn shade of my heart
the touch of your lips to the surface of a dream
the shine of a smile on a tear-stained mirror
the flash of sunshine through a grey, wet window
moonlight and glowing flowers flowing through the night
Hope borne inside of despair
light born in the heart of darkness
today blazing in the ashes of yesterday
tomorrow a gem in the heart
forever carried within the twinkling diamond of now
A thousand questions, never answered
a million words, never muttered
emotion so strong it sings in the voice of forever
dances in the eyes of right now
and cries tears for the heart of yesterday
A falling star
whose brethren know
not to cry - but sing !
for its heart flies free
as it soars... and dies... above the clouds
Nothing like the yesterday that will never be lost
the tomorrow that always was
and today that will forever be
beautiful
like you
like me
like all humanity...
October 12th, 2001… A Month Later
|
To all those who died on Sept. 11th; and to all those left alive to carry on. |
Again
I feel compelled to write something; who am I to claim to 'know' anything!?
Often I scoff and chuckle at myself; yet, something inside says,
"Write!" and so I write. Even
within this terrible circumstance perhaps some of the lessons I have learned,
so painfully, from my own life may be appropriate in this terrible time for us
all.
We have been gathered together as Americans, from the greatest to the least, perhaps as a majority of the world, to fight against terror, against terrorism. Some would even say against fanatics, against terrorists, against 'evil,' against 'them.' I applaud the pursuit of unity, but for genuine unity we must embrace all others, finding true unity through acceptance, through diversity, and not merely chant "hurrah for our side!" To truly be victorious in our fight we must continue to question our actions, our motives, and our perceptions. It is too easy to say that 'Evil does exist in the world...' and bring our fight against these others, other men, another People, other members of Humanity, no matter how diverse -or even deluded- they may be.
Evil does exist in the world, but if we practice a new way, an ancient way, we may realize that it is no man or woman we fight against. Instead of trying to conquer Evil with evil, destruction with destruction, hatred/division with hatred/division, we can triumph with a deeper understanding, make our fight a good fight against such terrible actions, and what leads to them. To prevent and protect against such ever happening again, not only through the actions our leaders and generals order on the battlefield, but to answer those actions with an equal, or greater, measure of mercy, compassion, and understanding. We can remember the mistakes we have made, even minor decisions that we have made that have been based upon our narrow, self-centered, America-centric solutions that have hurt others; we can temper our justice with the humble admission of our faults. To give mercy, not for evil actions, but for the very real people we would mask with the labels 'terrorist' or 'fanatic.' After all, not so long ago, these were 'allies' and 'freedom fighters.'
Sure, evil does exist in the world, but it exists in a mistaken understanding that justifies such terrible actions with terrible ease, be it the cruel ignorance of the martyr or the callous arrogance of the charismatic leader. We need to take care, because, in our own pursuit against such injustice, we may set Justice aside and also be deluded by the call for blood that rages in our veins, the call for terrible vengeance. We must take care because we would risk becoming just as blind as our 'enemy.' We, too, could become overly fervent in our pursuit of what could easily become an oppressive war in the Middle East, against a People who also long for freedom, for protection, for understanding and compassion, just as we do, as we all must, being human. We need to take care to protect against the blindness of our own ethnocentric and cultural perception, the blindness that can insidiously slip into virtue or righteousness: blind arrogance or self-righteousness. We can protect against this by fighting a good fight, tempered by our principles of freedom, justice, and mercy for all.
After
all it is these very principles that have made our country great.
In our quest against terror, against injustice and evil, let us
remember again who we are, and fight FOR justice, FOR good, and temper our
victory with good attributes like compassion, understanding, and mercy; for
the good of all the world, for all Humanity.
After all, we may be the world's superpower, but we are far from alone.
Let us seek true unity through acceptance and diversity.
Let us find Strength, Hope and Mercy to carry us along this glorious
journey, from now until tomorrow; in this we will honor not only ourselves,
but each life lost, or found, along the way.
With
Sincere Respect,
Karl
Chamberlain
