A Day to remember.....a day to think

Today we have been mandated to talk about 9/11 in all classes. Its a rare chance to exercise some freedom of choice and be creative in your instruction. Teaching social studies lends itself to several approaches.

I'm lucky in that I teach with a diverse group of people. We put our heads together and have come up with the following: we are going to concentrate on how people twist religion to advance a political agenda. Seems pretty topical to us.

Have you ever delved into the Koran? It is so beautiful and peaceful. Its an extremely tolerant work.

So our question to the young people is how can this be manipulated, be perverted to represent this (cue footage of the 9/11 attacks). I got to tell you that its days like this that stoke my passion about teaching. It's going to be a good day.

On the human side, when I think of that September of seven years ago, I visualize a stone being thrown into a still pond. The ripple that radiates outward makes me think of all the lives that were impacted by each victims passing. That is the true tragedy of that day. The fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandsons, granddaughters, grandparents, friends and lovers who never got another chance to feel the embrace of a loved one again.

I believe in an afterlife for all of us. I can only take solace that the above people instantly were held in an embrace of pure love. When they thought of those that had been left behind, the embrace got a little tighter, a little more loving. The word whispered into their ear was, "soon.........."