(below are my remarks from the "Celebrations of Peace" gathering at the bandshell at Lake Eola Park delivered tonight on the eve of the 10 Year Commemoration of the events of 9/11)
From the Indus Valley region of India there is evidence of the beginning of Hinduism some 4,000 – 5,000 years ago; Judaism dates back to around 1800 BCE, around 3,800 years ago – both find their time of beginning in the Bronze Age, the average life expectancy was 26 years old.
In 563 BCE Siddhārtha Gautama was born in what is today known as Nepal - he would become the Buddha - this is over 2,500 years ago. Not long after, in the grand sweep of history, a young prophet rose up from among the Hebrew people from a small village in the northern regions of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, some 2,000 years ago – during these periods of time, the average life expectancy was 28 years old.
Around 600 years later, approximately 1,400 years ago, another prophet, this time by the name of Muhammad, began leading his people into a new religion of peace in his part of the world, and the average life expectancy had risen to around 35 years of age.
Today -- worldwide -- the average life expectancy is around 68 years of age.
So, how long is 10 years? In terms of life expectancy it would feel now much shorter than it did 5000 years ago.
For most of us in America the events of September 11, 2001 can in some ways seem as fresh and horrific as if they happened yesterday. All of us remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news that the first World Trade Center tower had been hit by a plane, then the second tower was hit, then the news of a plane crashing into the Pentagon, then another airplane crashing into the countryside of Pennsylvania. Without question most of us would agree that on that day in America there was a building sense of foreboding… of fear… of uncertainty. In those moments, and in the hours and days that followed, many in our nation were frozen in fear. For some, that posture of fear has never receded.
In his book, The Assault on Reason, Al Gore very ably outlines, in the introduction and first chapter, the effects of fear on the human psyche. In short, it stultifies our capacities for reason. Since the rise of what Alfred North Whitehead in his book, Religion in the Making, called rational religion which began roughly 10,000 years ago, as the Mesolithic Period was beginning, human beings have attempted to make sense of their world in part through spiritual understandings, concepts, and beliefs.
In his book, The Assault on Reason, Al Gore very ably outlines, in the introduction and first chapter, the effects of fear on the human psyche. In short, it stultifies our capacities for reason. Since the rise of what Alfred North Whitehead in his book, Religion in the Making, called rational religion which began roughly 10,000 years ago, as the Mesolithic Period was beginning, human beings have attempted to make sense of their world in part through spiritual understandings, concepts, and beliefs.
Whether we are talking 10,000 years, or 5,000 years, or 10 years – and whether our life expectancy is 26 or 68 years of age – human beings, at our best, are constantly in the process of trying to make sense of the world around us. Religion in its highest and most noble form provides a pathway for that journey of meaning. The four religions and one philosophy that I have mentioned here: Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam all share common understandings about the centrality of the need for peace in the human soul and in the human community.
The spiritual life – whether it is based on faith or religious understandings or a philosophy or a combination of all of these– does not decry reason, but rather celebrates the human capacity for reason and understanding and thoughtful reflection. In fact, I would suggest without equivocation that one's capacity for reasonability and love are absolutely central to the growth and development of the spiritual life, and thus ultimately for the development of peaceful human community.
In that light it is staggering that 10 years after September 11 the United States of America continues in wars on two fronts (though I suppose we only officially admit to one of them now), terrorist attacks worldwide have increased, members of our own government seem incapable of speaking to each other with civility or any apparent concern for the common good, the economies of this nation and of the world – turbulent and unstable – seem to be the result of the opposite of peaceful processes, and the undercurrents of anger and dis-ease seem at times unbridled in our communities. We might ask, after 10,000 years, given the rise of rational spiritualities, and the various progresses of humankind – why have we not marched with greater conviction and certitude toward civility and peace?
How long is 10 years?
For us I believe 10 years is long enough to know that very early on after the day of September 11, 2001 our leaders lead us down the wrong pathways. Capitalizing on that national sentiment of foreboding and fear we found ourselves easily and willingly led into two wars, into the dismantling of the basic civil rights which had for over two centuries marked the pinnacle of American democracy and freedom (which in those days was the envy of the world), and then over the succeeding seven years we were led down a path which placed us teetering on the brink of near complete and total economic destruction. It is yet to be seen how we will survive that final example of the wreckage of fear-based leadership.
However, this 10 years has also been an opportunity for each of us to look deeply into our own souls and into the soul of our nation. It is my firm belief that though at so many turns we have taken the wrong pathways, there is always the opportunity for redemption, renewal, and the changing of hearts and minds toward a new way.
And that is why we are here today... IF the faith community has anything to offer to the larger community it is the understanding that for people who seek to live lives of spiritual grace there is always a hope and a promise for peace.
While the average life expectancy of a citizen of the US far exceeds the worldwide "68 years" mark, the truth is, after 10 years we don't have one more day to wait. It is upon our hearts and in our hands to begin the work of peace in a new way today. As we seek to live out the spiritual enterprise of reasonability and love it is incumbent upon us that we help our fellow citizens in this community and our fellow citizens of the nation and our fellow citizens of the world to move away from pathways which are the result of fear: war, destruction, and self absorbed greed, and instead move forward in the risky business of building a community and a world of peaceful relationships, finally recognizing our interdependence.
How long is 10 years?… It is long enough!
My sisters and my brothers as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his magnificent I Have A Dream speech, "Now is the time…" The golden voice of that powerful preacher still echoes through the years.
We know how long 10 years is, and while we remember with reverence our sisters and brothers who fell that day at the hands of brutal terrorists we are not willing to give their memory over to fear.
We know how long 10 years is to have wandered down paths that have led us toward nothing but our own possible destruction not only of body, but also of soul.
We know how long 10 years is to allow our nation to be co-opted by the greedy and self-serving.
We know how long 10 years is… And it is long enough… Now is the time!
Now is the time for peace, now is the time to build a just and stable economy, now is the time to study war no more, now is the time to plant a garden of hope in the midst of the rubble, now is the time to sing the songs of transformation in hope…
The spiritual life – whether it is based on faith or religious understandings or a philosophy or a combination of all of these– does not decry reason, but rather celebrates the human capacity for reason and understanding and thoughtful reflection. In fact, I would suggest without equivocation that one's capacity for reasonability and love are absolutely central to the growth and development of the spiritual life, and thus ultimately for the development of peaceful human community.
In that light it is staggering that 10 years after September 11 the United States of America continues in wars on two fronts (though I suppose we only officially admit to one of them now), terrorist attacks worldwide have increased, members of our own government seem incapable of speaking to each other with civility or any apparent concern for the common good, the economies of this nation and of the world – turbulent and unstable – seem to be the result of the opposite of peaceful processes, and the undercurrents of anger and dis-ease seem at times unbridled in our communities. We might ask, after 10,000 years, given the rise of rational spiritualities, and the various progresses of humankind – why have we not marched with greater conviction and certitude toward civility and peace?
How long is 10 years?
For us I believe 10 years is long enough to know that very early on after the day of September 11, 2001 our leaders lead us down the wrong pathways. Capitalizing on that national sentiment of foreboding and fear we found ourselves easily and willingly led into two wars, into the dismantling of the basic civil rights which had for over two centuries marked the pinnacle of American democracy and freedom (which in those days was the envy of the world), and then over the succeeding seven years we were led down a path which placed us teetering on the brink of near complete and total economic destruction. It is yet to be seen how we will survive that final example of the wreckage of fear-based leadership.
However, this 10 years has also been an opportunity for each of us to look deeply into our own souls and into the soul of our nation. It is my firm belief that though at so many turns we have taken the wrong pathways, there is always the opportunity for redemption, renewal, and the changing of hearts and minds toward a new way.
And that is why we are here today... IF the faith community has anything to offer to the larger community it is the understanding that for people who seek to live lives of spiritual grace there is always a hope and a promise for peace.
While the average life expectancy of a citizen of the US far exceeds the worldwide "68 years" mark, the truth is, after 10 years we don't have one more day to wait. It is upon our hearts and in our hands to begin the work of peace in a new way today. As we seek to live out the spiritual enterprise of reasonability and love it is incumbent upon us that we help our fellow citizens in this community and our fellow citizens of the nation and our fellow citizens of the world to move away from pathways which are the result of fear: war, destruction, and self absorbed greed, and instead move forward in the risky business of building a community and a world of peaceful relationships, finally recognizing our interdependence.
How long is 10 years?… It is long enough!
My sisters and my brothers as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his magnificent I Have A Dream speech, "Now is the time…" The golden voice of that powerful preacher still echoes through the years.
We know how long 10 years is, and while we remember with reverence our sisters and brothers who fell that day at the hands of brutal terrorists we are not willing to give their memory over to fear.
We know how long 10 years is to have wandered down paths that have led us toward nothing but our own possible destruction not only of body, but also of soul.
We know how long 10 years is to allow our nation to be co-opted by the greedy and self-serving.
We know how long 10 years is… And it is long enough… Now is the time!
Now is the time for peace, now is the time to build a just and stable economy, now is the time to study war no more, now is the time to plant a garden of hope in the midst of the rubble, now is the time to sing the songs of transformation in hope…
All we are saying is give peace a chance,
all we are saying is give peace a chance,
all we are saying is give peace a chance.
Now is the time for peace… Pray for peace, sing for peace, stand for peace, work for peace, play for peace, dance for peace, sew and harvest for peace, build for peace, organize for peace, prepare your heart for peace, create your home and community in peace... all we are saying is give peace a chance. We know how long it's been – and we know what time it is as – peace, peace, please O God who IS Love, let there be peace on earth – and let it begin with us. Amen
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