Ways of remembering

It's been said there are two kinds of suffering: one kind leads to more suffering, the other kind puts an end to it. The attacks of 9/11 were an instance of the first kind of suffering, for they quickly led to more suffering. They led, specifically, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed, including over 5,500 U.S. troops.

Just as there are two kinds of suffering, there are two kinds of remembering. One kind remembers wounds in a way that feeds the desire to inflict wounds on others. The other kind remembers in order to seek healing and a life beyond the suffering and the violence. Likely both kinds of remembering occurred during the recent ten-year anniversary of 9/11.

What if, after 9/11, the U.S. had engaged in dialogue about what it would take to make sure that its response to those evil deeds would further the cause of peace and reduce suffering? What if, instead of invading Afghanistan and Iraq, national leaders had worked with international partners to find the perpetrators of the crime and to bring them to justice? What if the U.S. had reached out to Muslims? What if 9/11 had made solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a national priority? What if all churches had built relationships with mosques, and what if Christians and Muslims had worked on community projects together?