A BIG YEAR
This has been a big year, one of those memorable dates that will stick with us for a long time, 2001, the year terrorists struck New York City and brought the economy to it's knees.
As I write this piece, columnists have begun to pontificate about how we've changed as a nation and as individuals. Road rage is down and people have slowed their lives to a crawl. Some have quit high pressure jobs. Others have sold their home in the city and moved to the rural area where they grew up. We're more civil, friendlier, and reaching out to relatives and friends, according to the big shot pundits.
And all the information gurus say we're going to drink less alchohol, get off drugs, spend more time with pets, find a less strenuous lifestyle, get in touch with our inner child and find reason to laugh out loud.
I think highly paid columnists are having some pretty screwy dreams. None of that is going to happen.
Once we capture Osama bin Laden, storm the strongholds of Saddam Hussein and complete the unmerciful punishment of the Taliban leaders, American will return to it's same old manner; hard driven, rushed, money crazy, unfriendly and arrogant. That's what we have become and it is a terminal condition.
I must admit, as I recently made reservations to climb onto an airplane and fly a few hundred miles, I had an awareness that I might die. But that's not a huge change in my life. That's simply being realistic.
There is only one thing that would register as a long term change for America. That would be a massive return to religion. In this case, it didn't happen. Yes, for a moment, we did have a temporary return to church, synagogue and temple. But within a few weeks the converted fell away and, once again, places of worship were filled with the weary faithful.
There was a story in the local newspaper the other day, about a woman, 31, who got scared when she realized that chums who worked in the World Trade Center were dead. She said to herself, no more automatic pilot, meaning that she would take charge of her life and exist more comfortably from that day forward. She started an exercise program, and took more time for herself. That's what Americans mean by being changed by Sept. 11.
If she had gone through a religious change, she might have done the same selfish things to make herself happier. But she also would have reached beyond herself and sacrificed for others. She would have found a way to connect with the families of her friends who died in the World Trade Centers.
The changes that have taken place in this world since Sept. 11 are temporary. There has to be some device, some commitment, or some promise to make it permanent. For a good many people the instrument that drives them beyond themselves is religion.
Religion brings us to a hard point where we can either jog endlessly up against eternity or find a way to move beyond that hard wall called self. And when that happens, it's like being overwhelmed by a huge wave that pelts us with fear and dread until we stop trying to save ourselves and give life over to the forward movement.
You cannot change your life by being nicer to self. But you can find fullfillment beyond your own spirit.
Clark D. Morphew
Posted 1-2-02