Daily Wisdom 09-11-2002 How Have We Changed? How Have We Not?

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How Have We Changed? How Have We Not?

I remember the first time I boarded the plane about three weeks after Sepetmber 11 last year.The pilot entered the cabin and addressed us all with a quiet, reassuring voice: "Good evening. Thanks for traveling with us. We anticipate a safe trip." It was the standard pilot message, but delivered in person, it calmed my nerves and made me feel a common humanity with all in that plane. Everyone seemed so quiet, polite and patient. But you could almost sense that we were all looking each other over: could that nice looking Grandma be carrying something?

It is interesting to note how quickly these initial changes give way to routine. The initial surge in people going to church, attending prayer meetings and vigils, slipped away. The inclination to draw family members closer to us and be thankful that we still had family members-no one dead-gave way to arguments, petty jealousies, being too busy to enjoy each other.

How time glosses over the dire messages of September 11: Everyone in the post-September 11 world is vulnerable. Some feelings of personal safety may have resumed, but it is a false security. Even if there is little we can do to increase our safety on the grand scale of things, we can pay attention to the little things we have control over: keep putting priority on family, spend time together. Take time for the spiritual: keep an active prayer life, read the Bible, go to worship services, volunteer in the community.Keep looking for ways to build understanding and respect for people who are different and believe differently. We don't have to get to the place where any belief is okay-but that doesn't mean we can't seek to understand and love other human beings. We need to keep looking for the reasons behind the September attacks: deep-seated resentment and hatred because of things we've done, and even misunderstandings about intentions. We have been the rich man that Jesus speaks of in the New Testament, ignoring the pleas and cries of the poor man at the gate. War doesn't solve problems permanently: it just creates more victims, more misunderstanding, more saber rattling.

John Paul Lederach, an internationally known peacemaker says, "We need to think differently about the challenges of terror. We must not give the movements we deplore gratuitous fuel for self-regeneration, fulfilling their prophecies by providing them with martyrs and justification. They changed the game, entered our lives, our homes and our workplaces, and turned our own tools to our demise. We will not win this struggle for justice, peace, and human dignity with the traditional weapons of war. We need to change the game again. Let us give birth to the unexpected." ("The Challenge of Terror," Where was God on September 11, Herald Press, 2002.)

One way to speak up for finding new alternatives is to let our leaders and elected officials know where we stand. A growing tide of voices is urging U.S. President Bush to avoid invading Iraq because it will likely provoke more terrorism. I urge U.S. readers especially to send a letter to let your views be known. Send to: George W. Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington DC 20500.

You can read Lederach's full essay and others on this subject at www.thirdway.com/peace/ Click on "A New Patriotism."

Contributed by Melodie Davis from her weekly columnANOTHER WAY (http://www.thirdway.com/aw/).For information on using Another Way in a local newspaper, contact:ANOTHER WAY, 1251 Virginia Ave., Harrisonburg, VA 22801-2497; or call1-800-999-3534; fax at 540-434-5556; or email me at:Melodie@mennomedia.org