"New York City has just been changed," Peter Jennings reported, as the second tower of the World Trade Center fell. Our lives changed too! We've lived through hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes. All types of natural disasters. We lived through them and life continued! But acts of terrorism? That's different. Why?

I don't have answers here. I'm just adding my prayers with my fears. Fears of where we have come based on where we have been. I pray for the families. Lives have been lost because for some reason it seems we have lost sight of what's important. I pray for the pain the innocents had to undergo because some megalomaniac chose to divert our attention from what's important, what's real. It's now your choice to make yourself better because of that.

I'm not going to editorialize, eulogize or condemn anyone. I'm not going to share my disgust for cowards who commit acts of terrorism everyday as we allow people to disgrace those things we believe in: faith, family, freedom.

Everyday acts of terrorism happen, as many of us stand idly by and let it happen. Life goes on. If it doesn't affect us, it doesn't bother us, and we ignore the war around us. It's war when we allow people to speak for us.

We've allowed this to happen for years. We've elected officials who've allowed their personal agenda to overshadow what their constituency believes. It's always a Republican or Democrat that has to win. Brothers can't seem to understand that all of us in this family 'bleed the same blood,' or 'cry similar.' Rather than remembering we are all brothers and sisters, we fight for everything until someone gets hurts!

And I'm hurt! I'm hurt that I may not see my children grow up. I'm hurt and afraid they may not be able to enjoy and relish the freedom to say what they think. I'm hurt and angry some people are so selfish as to want to rip the fabric of our very lives by attacking an image, a symbol, and this event will mark this generation as our was marked by Kennedy, King, and Lennon. It's not often you see Americans crying in the streets, but it's about time Americans do more than shed a tear now. It's time to get angry; to speak up; to relish the moments we may not live to see if we don't do something now!

I've been in the Pentagon. Never thought it would be bombed. There are things you might have thought were impossible. Perhaps the relationship you thought was over is not. Maybe the life you thought was over is not. Maybe, just maybe, the forgiveness you were unable to muster up can now be given, because you know--anything can happen. Not because the Pentagon was hit, or because the twin towers fell, but because you are who you are. If you believe, it can happen.

Think about changing your life. Think about the needs of this country. Our country and our leaders need prayer. We need to stop the bickering. We need to call those inside the Washington loop, and make them accountable: to us and our children. Make them realize we are greater than they are, and if it's bipartisanship that's needed to get this country in gear, then put it in overdrive. There has been too much fighting. There has been too much lying. There has been too much redefining of the truth and hiding behind definitions such as 'is' that has caused us to lose our 'moral compass' that made this country great. Remember, even those of you who have made money your God, "In God We Trust" is on that money.

Several days have passed. The 11th of September will be catalogued for this generation as 22 November, 1963, was for ours. What have you done since then? Has your life changed? Are you appreciating your day more, or have you already gone back into the daze you were in before several thousand people died and the President asked us to pause for a moment of prayer? Have you forgotten, or have you changed? If you have, perhaps those people's sacrifice wasn't in vain, and America can become greater. If you have not changed, maybe your children will think life doesn't matter anymore. Their parents are dead too. Maybe some of you are dead. I pray you're not. I pray for the children, because they will be the ones to save this country.

So do something now! Every day for a week or a month, however long you want to, wear something red to show Uniformity, something white to show Solidarity, and something blue to show Affection. Remember the flag. Remember our country. Remember our families. They all need us united! Let this be our USA pact.

"Fathering is the closest some men will come to understanding God." -Archie Wortham

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