TIME AND TEMPEST  
[The Tribute] 

This is the five year anniversary of "9-11" and the terrorist attacks that shook a universe to its core in 2001.    As if suspended in time, we can all recall in precise detail, where we were and what we were doing when we got the news that Terrorism had landed in our front yards.  Transfixed as we watched the horror unfold in living rooms across the nation,  I think we all must have sworn with bowed heads and empty hearts, never again to take love or life for granted ... if only there were survivors ... 

We huddled together in terror and promised to tend to families and friends, make more time for love and less for all the insignificant details that consume us.  We would love, honor and obey our vow to 'be there' and 'be present' from that/this moment forward in time ... if only God would protect and spare us ... one more time.

Despair flooded in, gluing us to media images in catatonic numbers, but there was a deeper wail within, spurring us collectively and individually into action as we answered the call to Help.   To assist.   Anyone.  Everyone.   Any soul even remotely known, who lived in  close proximity to 'Ground Zero' ... we thought of loved ones and meant it this time, begging God to 'clear the lines' so we could get through, make that connection, let family, friends, lovers and spouses, children and co-workers know how much they meant to us, truly, and how sorry we were for every horrible thing we had done ... if only God would get us through and give us the chance to make it right ... this time.

So,  we streamed into temples and churches, chapels and corridors, meeting halls and sacred spaces, any place we thought we could find Light in the middle of the holocaust consuming our souls ... we crumbled on floors and in basements, wept openly in streets and alleys, and took communion over and over and over again, as if 'in community with each other in Faith', we could be cleansed, washed free from the stain of such stark and unapologetic Hatred.  We clung to every kernel of wisdom as the 'Gospel Truth', and expected the clergy to have the direct uplink to the Universe. God.  The Messiah who would save us.   All of us were 'believers' then ... as if we expected Jesus himself to walk among us ....

How fervently we pray when our souls are on the line and mean it, but quickly forget when the threat has passed and we are saturated in the comfort of our lives and own choices again.  God must also have a spin on all of this, I think at times  ... must  surely have something to say about our prayers and the cyclical battle with Faith ...

So, on the anniversary date of the darkest day in our nation's history, we pay Tribute and  pray for Peace to enter in and bring us swiftly back to center again, where we are whole and  safe, securely settled again in Faith, waiting on God to answer ...    

Faith & Fear [The Future] 2004

Terror & Torture [The Testament] 2005

© 2006 Phyllis A Travis