Friday, September 12, 2008

In honor of 9-11-2001



Even I am a day late, I cannot just ignore this day. I want to pay respect to the wonderful, beautiful country of ours, and to all the people that have made it the great nation that it is. I want to thank everyone who stood up to the terrorists that day, from the President to every person who started to fly a flag to show they are ready to fight terror.

I remember the day it happened so well. I got a phone call in the early morning from Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim - she had already watched it happen and shared the news with us and suggested I turn on the TV and watch. I remember the horror of the day unfold.

And yet, amidst all the reports coming in and amidst death, destruction and despair, a new energy started to emerge. A spirit of togetherness, of unity, of something uniquely American. There was pride in being a US citizen. There was pride in our country.

That night, we had a very special class at Jung SuWon. Grandmaster Tae Yun Kim gathered us together and talked about what happened. Each person got a chance to express their feelings and deal with their emotions. Some of our students had relatives in New York and had just faced incredible losses. And yet, through meditation and prayer, a new peace started to develop - a very fragile inner peace, that would give rise to new hope. There were heart felt tears, there was outrage, there was anger, just about all emotions were there....each person dealt with their feelings differently. And yet each person had their chance to express and share.

The class ended with a beautiful candle ceremony, led by Grandmaster Kim, with each student lighting a candle in honor of all those that had suffered so much that day, whether victim or rescuer... With lit candle in our hands, we formed a circle and meditated. It was a beautiful expression of how we all felt.


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