Has it really been that long...

Since I posted? Or since "September 11th"? Yeah, I guess so.

The last couple of days has had me thinking about both. I watched United 93 a couple nights back. It was well done, but I'm not here to crtitique it. What stood out to me was the realization that seeing something like that can make you think that tragedy has defined boundaries, that you can count the manifest and get a handle on it, you can add up the family members and the children that weren't because of it, make a movie, cut checks, hang wreaths and then have everything be OK. Those things are great, but the boundaries of tragedy are far more expansive. 3rd world countries have been experiencing this kind of thing a thousandfold since time immemorial, and they don't have all have budget to paint it on such a broad canvas. I suspect the further we go down the road, there won't be any place left that isn't well acquainted with disaster and loss. The writing just seems to be on the wall, you know?

Anyway, I still get choked up when I have to talk about it. September 11th, I mean. The rest is intellectual. I see it on TV, but I don't see it. I think there's something to my grandfather's experience that we all might be better for having--he was in France during WWII, injured behind German lines, sent home with a purple heart to a woman he had only known as a wife for 4 weeks before being drafted. You carry a different perspective into the world when you start out that way. Me, I'm spoiled and ungrateful. 'Voting my conscience' for me still means not voting [Now I'll never be able to run for office].

If war is hell, at least it helps you appreciate heaven.