Six Months Later

six months later

Has it only been six months? Haven't we been living this life for years now? It seems that way. We've moved on, in most respects. We grumble about inconveniences and ignore troubles throughout the world. We silently bestow our faith in our government’s military actions, and generally don't want to be bothered. Mainly, we wish we could fly without waiting two hours and having to take our shoes off.

The world has become a much darker place in the past six months, and not just because of the terrorist attacks which still haunt us all. Leaders around the world seem to be more arrogant than ever, and everyone uses their devotion to President Bush's War on Terrorism as justification for their unseemly and dangerous judgments. Between India and Pakistan, Israel and Palestine, China, Iran, and the U.S., the lines in the sand are getting crossed. Even the fighters we are relying on in Afghanistan are on the brink of fighting each other. In Ireland, the government is handing out flyers warning people what to do in case of a nuclear attack. Everything old is new again.

Our country's economy is trapped in a downward spiral, but our government assures us it's not a concern, and that we the people shouldn't worry, since they are taking such great care of us all by fighting the Axis of Evil.

The war in the Holy Land rages on, getting more and more vicious, with more children and civilians dying each day while the world steps back and scolds everyone involved from afar. Do as I say, not as I do is becoming the mantra for domestic policy.

But all is not lost. Not everything is dark. We grew a lot in six months. Our concept of heroism changed from the absurd to the everyday, as it should be. The men and women who went about their lives after the 11th became the new legends. Suddenly, from sea to shining sea, we all felt each other's existence. We are all, once again, Americans.

But now what? Our resolve should make us strong, but resolve can make strong men foolish. I still fear, what if it happens again?

What will happen then?

Certainly, we will cry again, even if we thought we had no more tears left. Certainly, we will bind even closer together than we have to this point.

But we must not let those tears blur our sight, making us unable to distinguish the innocent from the criminal, and they must not blind us to the beautiful face of justice.