Crystal Blue Skies
"And since in our passage through this world painful circumstances occur more frequently than pleasing ones, and since our sense of evil is, I fear more acute than our sense of good, we become the victim of our feelings, unless we can in some degree command them." - Ann Radcliffe - 1764.
Nine years ago today I remember marveling how clear the skies were. Crystal-clear blue. The skies around Buffalo, NY are similar this morning. After a week of pure grey, they are blue.
And it's impossible to see the calendar change to September 11 and not forget. The crystal-blue skies notwithstanding there's a fog of the heart.
Today will be a day of tribute to those lost and memorial wreaths and fancy speeches of unity will mark the tragedy, and they should. To not remember those in our heart who've passed along is the greatest of all sins I suppose, but the quote written above sort of blows my mind when I consider 9/11 in the backdrop of the perfectly clear skies today.
Since our sense of evil is, I fear, more acute than our sense of good, we become the victim of our feelings.
We have a keen sense of pure evil. If not, just think back 3285 days. Our clear sense of good is like searching through the thick clouds of earlier in the week.
There doesn't seem to have been a lot of progress since Ann Radcliffe uttered the above quote well over two hundred years ago. It's astounding to me that human beings have not evolved of mind in that time, but perhaps that is the way that we are built.
We become victims of our feelings unless we can in some degree command them.
It's hard to command your feelings in the midst of utter despair. It's even harder to move forward with the gray clouds bearing down, day after day, as you try and figure out the riddles that perplex your mind.
Never forget. Truly.
But move forward, one day at a time, slowly working to command the darkness.
There's something about a crystal clear day that takes a little of the pain away.
Feeling an acute sense of good today.
I hope the rain stays away.
Nine years ago today I remember marveling how clear the skies were. Crystal-clear blue. The skies around Buffalo, NY are similar this morning. After a week of pure grey, they are blue.
And it's impossible to see the calendar change to September 11 and not forget. The crystal-blue skies notwithstanding there's a fog of the heart.
Today will be a day of tribute to those lost and memorial wreaths and fancy speeches of unity will mark the tragedy, and they should. To not remember those in our heart who've passed along is the greatest of all sins I suppose, but the quote written above sort of blows my mind when I consider 9/11 in the backdrop of the perfectly clear skies today.
Since our sense of evil is, I fear, more acute than our sense of good, we become the victim of our feelings.
We have a keen sense of pure evil. If not, just think back 3285 days. Our clear sense of good is like searching through the thick clouds of earlier in the week.
There doesn't seem to have been a lot of progress since Ann Radcliffe uttered the above quote well over two hundred years ago. It's astounding to me that human beings have not evolved of mind in that time, but perhaps that is the way that we are built.
We become victims of our feelings unless we can in some degree command them.
It's hard to command your feelings in the midst of utter despair. It's even harder to move forward with the gray clouds bearing down, day after day, as you try and figure out the riddles that perplex your mind.
Never forget. Truly.
But move forward, one day at a time, slowly working to command the darkness.
There's something about a crystal clear day that takes a little of the pain away.
Feeling an acute sense of good today.
I hope the rain stays away.
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