Friday, September 11, 2009

The Memory of Terrorism

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was 15 years old when she left the comfort of home in Switzerland to find herself. It was a time when World War II was raging in Europe. Hitler's Nazis were leaving millions of people dead or dying in their wake. Cities were being destroyed, people were starving, children separated from their parents, and thousands upon thousands were being exterminated by the 'master race'. Her journey continued after the war when she visited the concentration camp at Maidanek. The walls of the waiting area just outside of the gas chambers were filled with drawings of butterflies drawn by children who were awaiting a horrible death. This is the message that they left behind. Elisabeth encountered a girl who was a Jewish survivor of the death camp and asked her how it was possible that men and women could so brutally kill such innocent children. The answer changed her life. The girl said to her "Oh my God, if I spend the rest of my life telling about all these horrible things, I would not be any better than Hitler himself. I would plant seeds of hate and negativity."

It is incomprehensible that beautiful, innocent, delightful children can be killed by monsters. It is just as incomprehensible that beautiful, innocent, delightful children can grow up to be the monsters that do such things. Dr. Kubler-Ross did not become bitter. She developed a lifelong passion to help, to heal, feed and clothe the less fortunate. Her work soothed the ravages of grief for countless people.

The memory of September 11, 2001 reminds us all that horrible things happen. The thought of it can lead us to seek revenge or it can lead us to service. It is our responsibility to make choices built on the foundations of love rather than fear. We have the obligation to help shape the lives others so that they will choose not to be terrorists but rather to be healers.