To remember the events and fallen of 9/11 is to exploit the fallen for exploitation. So sayeth Keith Olbermann.
From a man for whom everything is a political outrage, I offer the above as an example of consistency if not irony.
I had friends there too, Keith. One of them worked in the World Trade Center during the 1993 bombing as well. I choose to remember with keen awareness, and I assure that it is no less painful.
When I was a young Marine, invincible and proud beyond my right to be so, a crusty old sergeant (pronounced sar’nt) said something that has stuck with me through all my days.
“Fear is God’s way of telling you to pay attention. Pain is God’s way of telling you that you are still alive.”
It’s what you do with the realization – and not denial – of both these conditions that charts your path in the fields before you. Keith and I clearly see two different paths before us.
Such is the case with sheep and sheepdogs. The wolf still circles. And grazing and diverting its eyes will not save the sheep. But the sheepdog, hated by wolf and sheep alike, will see the sheep through the field regardless – always aware, watching, listening, alert.
Because that’s just what sheepdogs do.
