This day, 3 years ago

I was stationed in DC on 9/11. The sound of the explosion at the pentagon woke my platoon up, literally and figuratively. I think that it woke a lot of us up. I was going to a Catholic Church at the time called St. Peter's(huge old style church), on that following sunday there was not a place to sit. However, by the begining of Advent Church attendance had dwindled back down to its normal size. Being stationed in DC at that time was a very good learning expierience. Right after the attacks we couldn't go anywhere without someone thanking us for serving or buying us a beer or something. However, by April of 2003 there were protesters there calling us names. I learned that the masses can be motivated to do just about anything out of fear but very little out of compassion. At first they were motivated by the fear of death, and thanked us because death was nearer to us because of our service; then, later, they were motivated by the fear of death, and called us names because they were afraid to step-up-to-the-plate. This is a scary age that we live in, I learned also to live by my faith in that time, because it is the only thing that can not be snathched away from us at the drop of hat.

I pray that the Lord has mercy on us all.