REMARKS:
Memorial Service, September 17, 2001
Wally Adeyemo, President, ASUC
There is a
time and a place for every thing under the sun; a time to be born
and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time
to mourn and a time to dance. On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001
the world as we knew it changed forever, and the world entered
a time to mourn. No longer would the twin towers stand in the
New York skyline; gone forever were the hopes and dreams of over
6,000 people; changed were the lives of an entire generation.
As we watched
from 3,000 miles away, the images were surreal, hard to realize
that the unthinkable had really occurred, hard to understand how
something so heinous could happen in America. Yet, from 3,000
miles away, and even across the globe, every man and woman understood
that life would never again be the same.
Whether Christian,
Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, or even evolutionist, September
11th reminds us that we are one people, torn from one cloth, with
one spirit. No matter one's race, gender, or religion, we all
felt a common sense of loss. For the first time since December
7th, 1941, a generation of Americans awoke to the possibility
that our nation could be attacked by anyone, anywhere, at any
time.
Mourning the
dead is one of the hardest parts of humanity, because death is
something that we have so little control over. While the deaths
of individuals are hard to understand, the death of masses invokes
even greater questions for humanity. In mourning others we must
reflect upon our own lives and how we are living. If you were
to die right now would you be ready to go? Have you lived everyday
to it's fullest and if not, why not? Those who now lie dead had
no choice as to the hour of their death. Where will you be in
your hour?
How many of
those that were lost would give but one more second to tell their
wives or husbands they loved them, to call a friend just to say
hello, to hold a brother or sister just one more time. Death teaches
the living the value of time and the finite nature of life. It
took four years to build the World Trade Center, but it only took
one hour for it to crumble to the earth. You have spent your entire
life building, but in a moment's time it can all be gone. Yet
the difference between you and those that are gone is that you
still have a chance to write your personal history, to hug that
last person.
On September
11th terrorists attempted to blow out the light of humanity, they
allowed their hate and anger to drive them to murder. We cannot
allow those that instigate violence through terrorism to make
us hate as they hated or be angered as they themselves were angered.
We as a people and as a society must stand by a higher calling.
We cannot let the spirit of terrorism blow out our lights of hope,
compassion, and love. If we allow our lights to be smothered by
those that promote terrorism, we will have allowed them to take
more than our buildings.
We reserve
today to mourn those that we have lost, but what we do tomorrow
is as important as what we do today. History will not judge us
based on how we mourn the dead, but rather based on how we respond
after the dead are buried. Will we learn from the deaths of thousands
or will we allow history to repeat itself?
Today is not
a day to speak of vengeance or anger, but rather a day to consider
our humanity. Deep within the hearts of many lies the want and
desire to do something for those who have lost so much. This desire
manifests itself in blood drives, food donations, peace rallies,
and a number of other things. But while the "do something" spirit
allows us to deal with the crisis at hand, the true long lasting
change that September 11th should teach us is that without love
we have nothing. The light that each of us posses, the light that
those that promote terror attempt to remove, can only be fueled
by love.
We can plan
blood drives, but without love, we have nothing, we can pray for
victims, but without love we have nothing, we can educate the
world about the evils of terrorism, but without love, we have
nothing.
Fiat Lux means
to let your light shine. Let your light shine from the mighty
mountains of California; let your light shine from the rolling
hills of the golden state; let your light shine from the red woods
of Humboldt; let your light shine from the valleys of our great
state; let your light shine in every dorm; let your light shine
in every classroom; let your light shine on every street corner;
let your light shine from sea to shining sea.
And when we
allow our lights to shine, when we let them shine from every village
and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed
up that day when all of God's children - Arab men and white men,
Jews and gentiles, Christians and Muslims - will be able to join
hands and say: Love is kind, love is patient, and love never fails.
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