9/11

All people are called to forgiveness. It has been said time after time that one should not hold a grudge. After the horrible tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001, many people felt that they would never been able to forgive and many did not want to. As a nation, we wanted the terrorists to pay for everything they did to our friends, families, and neighbors. We wanted them to feel the pain we felt in losing our loved ones; however, eleven years later, some people are starting to have a different perspective. It has also been said that time heals all wounds, but 1 year, 11 years, or 100 years won't heal this wound. Losing our brothers and sisters in the tragedies of 9/11 was horrifying. Many people refuse to forgive Osama Bin Laden because they are so horrified by his actions; however, hating him will not bring our loved ones back. There is nothing we can do to go back to September 10, 2001 and prevent this from happening. All we can do now is move on. Forgiving Osama is part of moving on. Jesus calls us to forgive "70 times 7" which means to forgive always. God forgives us for every sin even when we don't say we are sorry. In order to emulate God, we are called to forgive Osama even though as far as we know, he felt no guilt for the rest of his life. We must forgive him even though, as far as we know, he was never sorry.God's forgiveness knows no limits and neither should ours. Forgiving Osama may be the most difficult feat of the lives of the people in our nation. I believe we are called to forgive, but not forget. We must never forget what happened on 9/11, but our remembrance from this day forward should not be the acts of Osama. We need to remember the people who perished and the lives they led. We need to remember the families that suffered and the children who grew up without parents. Lastly, we need to remember those who risked their lives to save others. We should honor all of the firemen and women, police officers, and doctors that went headfirst into burning buildings to rescue people. We should be proud to have these heroes in our midst. We will never forget those who died and those who sacrificed their lives to save others. Like them, we must put the needs of other above our own. We must focus on the unity we felt as a nation after 9/11. We will never forget what happened or the people who died, but we can learn to forgive the man who was responsible. Forgiveness is the only way to move on.