It’s that time of the year again. Night is falling, and the vigil I have sat with you all day has come to an end. If you are Catholic, you can put down your rosary. If you are Jewish, it’s time to uncover the mirrors. Shiva is over for another 364 days.

My soul is stripped for another year, and it’s time to put myself back together so I can continue to fight the scourge that caused the deaths of so many people that sunny summer day.

Some final links.

Sirius. A police dog, Port Authority bomb sniffer and faithful partner of Officer David Lim. Sirius had no way of sniffing out the fact that the bombs would actually be planes filled with innocent passengers, carrying the deadly bacteria of Jihad. Lim managed to get out of the World Trade Center in time. Sirius did not. Read about him and other selfless people who didn’t have to make the rescue attempt, but did so anyway. Hat tip to Cassie.

The Mayor of Mitchiville remembers.

Hijackers hijack the hijack museum.

Previous attempts to put into context the motivation of the men who used hijacked passenger planes to attack the United States on September 11, 2001, have been met with emotional public opposition, with politicians canceling plans for an “International Freedom Center” in 2005.

But the president of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum said photographs of the 19 hijackers would be displayed along with the quotes as part of the “witness testimony” in the museum.

State Department officials prayed with Muslims today. How do you like them apples, America?

“To accommodate posts in countries where Muslims may be observing Ramadan until/about September 19, posts are requested to plan an Interfaith Day of Service between September 11 and October 18, 2009.”

Although it refers to other “faith communities,” Islam is the focus of the entire initiative. The action request asks State personnel to support mosques: “Organize a food-drive for the end of Ramadan with religious leaders and citizens in Muslim communities to donate to a local mosque or community…” And it directs State personnel to a handy “list of Ramadan 2009 outreach materials for Muslim communities.”

Regardless of what happens in life…it is up to each of us to assign “meaning.”  That can be either positive or negative, empowering or debilitating.  Neither is more “right,” but some paths allows us to be of greater service to the world (and to ourselves).

And…what’s most important is the actions we take as a result of the “meaning” we give something.

And on that note, I shall bring down my own big black curtain for 2009. Your visits today have sustained me, and I hope I could help you put into words any feeling you may have struggled with: Anger, fear, sadness, resolve.

Life continues apace, does it not? Tomorrow is a new day, and a day of new beginnings - Wonder Woman and Mikey are marrying. Our best to them.

We’ll be back next year to hold vigil once more. I’m never going to forget, I’m never going to surrender, and I hope you never do either.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 7:26 pm and is filed under September 11. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.