Firefighters, police, and emergency medical techs risk their lives every day on every street in the nation. Why it takes a tragedy to acknowledge their honor and bravery, I do not know.
To the finest heroes in the world -- the ones that are heroes when no one is looking -- the everyday heroes. God bless them for they are the "salt of the earth."
I believe September 11 was the beginning of a new way of life in America.
Before 911, I think that we were complacent and easily fooled by politicians, corporate America, and the government. We believed these people had our best interests at heart. They have no hearts.
Since 911, they have stolen our lives, our livelihoods, and our retirements. They used the 911 tragedy to start a war on terrorism that is as ineffectual as our preparations for the NYC tragedy. They also used this tragedy to run up the national debt and to spend our Social Security. They used 911 to justify drilling in our precious national parks, logging in our national forests, and trading away our life savings on the stock market.
If you trust one word that politicians and corporate entities say, then you will regret it. Prepare for your own retirement, school your children at home, work for yourself and pray.
Do I sound cynical? I am. But I still believe that there are "everyday heroes" (my story in the aftermath of 911) in our lives, and these are the people we need to trust. The university student who drives a bus into raging flood waters to rescue residents of a town who hate the college being there. The policeman who takes a bullet for his partner. The teacher that challenges the gang member and takes a knife for her trouble. The neighbor that stands up to the drug dealer and dies in a drive-by. The stranger who collects funds for a family who has lost their house and family member to a fire. The cancer victims who try to set a Guiness world record.
There are others: the good samaritan, the fireman, the veteran, the policeman, the underwater rescue team, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and hundreds of volunteers who make any rescue effort work. These are the people who bless our new life. The others? I am going to let the Lord decide.
You can become an everyday hero. Welcome a VietNam Vet home, give a homeless man food, take an abandoned dog into your home. Send bibles to Africa. Send shoes to Russian orphans. Volunteer to tutor someone in English or to get their GED. Join meels-on-wheels. Save a square foot of rain forest. Visit someone in a nursing home. Be a blessing to others.
God bless you everyday heroes. May the devil take the rest.
Last updated: 08/17/02