Peace.

The picture of baseball fireworks is not a commentary on 9/11. We've certainly had a lot of fireworks since, but not for such pure enjoyment.

This time 9 years ago I was driving to work listening to very bad things unfolding on the radio, unfolding in the world. This date 9 years ago was a seminal event in that a part of the world from which we thought we were safe inflicted its hatred on us right where we live, terrorizing innocent people, ending their lives, giving our leaders alleged license to commit young men and women to two wars, the benefits of which are at best dubious. I would suspect we have also collected our debt in innocent bystanders in other countries. One man's collateral damage is another man's family, after all.

It doesn't strike me that we've learned very much from all this. A yahoo minister with a wild west mustache and a congregation made up of his own cousins is getting an enormous amount of attention for threatening to burn someone else's holy book. He says Islam is an evil religion. Anyone with the memory of a gnat can recall Christians burning books and records. How many people have been murdered and oppressed in the name of Jesus? Ask the victims of the Spanish Inquisition. Ask Galileo! Ask gay and lesbian couples asking to form families and support each other within the framework of marriage.

Today I'm going to go about my business thankful that my life is not interrupted by the expression of someone else's hate.