Experiences

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.
- Edmund Burke

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to see the Bruce Springsteen concert at Phillips Arena (many props to my boy Paul at the museum for helping me out). And it wasn't just any concert, but a solo, acoustic show which lasted two-and-a-half hours. No opening act, no backup band ... just The Boss with a couple of guitars, a piano and harmonica (the man played I'm On Fire on the freakin' banjo). Safe to say ... the show rocked.

Seeing Springsteen was, shall we say, an emotional experience for me. Not in the sense that I was a huge Springsteen fan (though I have become a big fan in recent years), but rather because of my affection for The Rising.

9/11 had a very profound effect on me. I've never talked about it with anyone - not my wife, not my family, not my friends. But the events of that tragic day really did change me, my worldview and my intentions in life. It was staggering to me that more than 3,000 innocent people could vanish just like that ... and that their deaths were the result of deluded individuals who hated us so much they felt such carnage was justified.

I was angry, scared and confused in the days that followed. I remember watching the first tower crumble and not thinking it was real, that it must be a scene from some movie I had seen before. It was impossible for me to fathom that people were trapped in that tumbling building, plunging to their deaths ... never to see their loved ones again.

I couldn't comprehend it. I couldn't make sense of it. And I thought every day for the rest of my life would be just like that one.

One thing that helped provide me some consolation was Springsteen performing My City Of Ruins at the impromptu telethon held in the wake of the attacks:

Now with these hands,
With these hands, With these hands,
With these hands, I pray Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for the strength Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for the faith, Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for your love, Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for your love, Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for your faith, Lord
With these hands, With these hands,
I pray for the strength, Lord
With these hands, With these hands

Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!
Come on, rise up!

I truly think this was the first time I cried since the planes hit the towers. Maybe the anger and confusion had clouded my emotions, but this song broke through that facade. And for the first time, I really began to think that everything would be OK.

And I began to think about what I really wanted to do with my life, how I wanted to live my life. Everything crossed my mind - from joining the military (seriously) to dropping everything and working with the Peace Corps. In the end - through a combination of lack of courage on my part, my love and dedication for my wife and thoughtful searching - I determined there was much work I could do at home for now.

My wife (then fiancee) and I began searching for a church in town. I sought out charitable organizations that worked for the greater good in our community and found a couple that I began to work with. I decided to become more involved in the public sector as well, getting involved in politics for the first time last year.

Doing my part to give back to the community and help those who are less fortunate than me is, in a small way, a fitting tribute to honor the lives of those lost that day.

Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
- Robert Kennedy