In Remembrance of 9/11

The grace of Divine love led me today after mass into a shop... a destiny of sorts for two mourning souls to join in peace and share a grief that strikes us so suddenly, we remain breathless sometimes for years on end.

Irish, she heard of my loss at 9/11 since I could not come back on Saturday when she next worked... I would be in prayer, in remembrance. She too had lost a loved one, her son's fiance on the plane from Argentina to Dublin that went down into the cold seas forever lost... whose son crushed with grief became surrounded by friends, first one, then two, then many, each day to support and comfort him. The girl was so young, a Trinity medical student and was the love of his life... a smile that could light up a room and a heart so in love. And so his mother through tears chose a white candle to honor both and light on 9/11, she gave it to me... a moment shared, in solidarity that sometimes the way of the world is not to be understood, but accepted. As each day is a day of death that should never happen... tragedy that should not be... loss that cannot be recovered.

I am remembering my father, trapped underground in NYC in a subway on his way to meet his lawyer in the twin towers. She was killed that day... my father lingered and died a few months later... I am remembering my children whose father was also in NYC that day, who cleaved to me watching the sights and sounds of the towers falling again and again... I am remembering my daughter who in her shock felt helpless and fell asleep wrapped in a blanket from a long ago childhood... I am remembering my son who helped me hang the large American flag over our front door as he told me he wished he was a firefighter and could have saved them all. I am remembering my friends... so many who were there, some lost forever and some who simply lost their way after that day.

And I gaze on this white candle that I will burn on 9/11 in a spirit of peace and love for those who have lost their lives or their selves. And I will pray for those who choose to burn the Holy Qu'ran rather than a candle of peace, knowing that their flame is a flame of intolerance and hate and mine is a flame of Divine love.

In remembrance for peace, I choose to cultivate purity of heart and allow the chaos of others not to touch my soul. It is in the stillness of peace that love is procreated and released into the world.

And so my new friend in Dublin... this flame of love is for us both.