I belong to Quitman Volunteer Fire Department. We have a membership of 30-35 most of the time. There are so many reasons membership changes from time to time. Some leave, some transfer, some pass away, some just drop out. I never understood the draw to be a part of it until I was a part. After having been a part for a few years now it seems like a part of me. Working together with a group like ours draws you together in ways you never envision. Things you face together make you understand each other better and how much you can overcome.
There were 411 emergency personnel who lost their lives on 9-11. I have this photo on my phone that has turnout gear placed together in the front lot of a fire station in Brooklyn representing the lives lost. I'm sometimes scrolling through my pictures and run across it again and again. It never ceases to stop me and make me think of the men who gave them up running into what was utter destruction raining down upon them. I watched the magnificent funeral processions given in honor of those men by the men that served with them in fires, accidents, and daily lives. Lives honored in the only way they had left. I remember where I was that very moment 15 years ago and it still brings disbelief.
For a few months after 9-11 our country was united in its belief that the perpetrators of this attack be punished. In that belief we stood mostly together as the hate beliefs of another religion, one that seeks the destruction of all its enemies, were sought out to bring to task for what they did here. Some say that it's hard to find those to blame but that's a matter of semantics. There are countries that indoctrinate the very young to believe that any and all infidels are subject to any type of attack in the name of Allah. That their god dictated that any nonbeliever be put to the sword. That their very existence was to slaughter others in his name. There are some here in this country that preaches the same.
It can and is argued that Muslim and Christian worship the same God. If you just read the Old Testament through some of the destruction that was visited upon the denizens of the Promised Land without context of who God is then one might think that very thing. The bible says that we cannot understand Gods ways but our lot is just to follow without question and believe that He knows what is good. If you read the whole thing you understand that His way is Love first and foremost for those who love and follow Him and you must love all without question. God hasn't been in the destruction business for thousands of years, but it's still His business. It's not men.
I write this still thinking about those who have and will divide us in groups so that we can't stand together in the face of those who wish our destruction. I'm not talking about those who think that they might be "oppressed" or feel like they aren't part of society. I'm talking about the ones who wish the destruction of what the US stands and have stood for. People from other societies who can't stand the freedoms that we have and the desire that all experience the same. Businessmen and women, rich and destitute, intelligent and UN knowledgeable, even some of the politicians that are running for national office. Ones who only care about the enrichment of themselves and the entrenchment of their power. Ones who dishonor the dead and their sacrifice. We must never forget. Until next week. ags.
