On Sunday, America will observe Patriot Day, designated to commemorate the attacks of September 11th, 2001.  Ten years ago, madmen unleashed unprecedented terror on the US, killing over 3000 people—some trapped in doomed aircraft, more innocently at work in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and still others simply responding to help the earlier victims.  The attacks were as much symbolic blows to our democratic institutions and principles as they were to inflict human casualties.  Appropriately, America and the world responded in both real and symbolic ways borne out of the values that undergird those institutions and principles.

Americans everywhere responded literally with blood, sweat, and tears.  Citizens donated blood and money in unprecedented amounts.  A tent city of relief workers sprang up in Pentagon parking lots as churches committed to meet the rescuers’ daily needs.  Young people volunteered to enlist in the military, while others sought service through the USA Freedom Corps; veterans begged to return to uniform.  School children created posters and wrote letters which brought comfort to those returning to work at the Pentagon.

Throughout the Nation, Americans were put to the test as ordinary life became anything but ordinary.  Military retirements and discharges were put on hold.  Reserve and Guard personnel readied for activation and deployment.  Military men and women boarded aircraft for locations they had never previously heard of, clearly acting out their personal and service values as they left behind families, jobs, and security.  Many took on new roles as communities rallied to improve homeland security.  Partisanship, economic differences, and social barriers disappeared.  “God bless America” became more than a cliché, but the unified prayer of the Nation.

These responses sprang from our values.  Definitions which separate one value from another often blur in such moments.  Searchers groping through darkened corridors of the Pentagon, firemen climbing higher in the World Trade Center even as the upper floors were caving toward them, passengers rushing toward the cockpit of a doomed airliner—were those actions driven singularly by values such as “duty,” “honor,” “bravery,” or “service,” or perhaps all of these and others in a patriotic blend?  Throughout that day, thousands more demonstrated values that they never believed they would be called upon to do.  Yet, in none of these displays did anyone stop to ask, “How might I demonstrate core values here?”  Their expressions came naturally, spontaneously built upon conditioned response from earlier exercise of values in the very small matters of life.  For it’s in those smaller experiences we prepare for the greater.

Every day we have opportunity to demonstrate these values in our lives, albeit in ways not so dramatic.  Each value demonstrated prepares us for the next challenge.  While the impact of each may vary, the significance of each does not, for in every instance a value acted upon strengthens the moral and ethical fabric of our personal, civic, and national life.

So as Patriot Day approaches, may we consider its meanings.  First may we honor those patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11th, 2001, and those who on that day and following labored tirelessly to save others, restore order in the midst of chaos, and bring some measure of justice to those who would demolish not only buildings but civilization itself.   

Second may we recall that the same values that brought us through those darks days were not unique; they were the same rich values present at the founding of the Nation, that led us to weather crises throughout our history, that enabled us to act in defense of freedom at home and around the world, and that empower us to face the unseen challenges of tomorrow.  Patriot Day is a time to recall our collective commitment to maintaining the ideals of freedom, justice, and compassion at all levels of life—national, institutional, and personal.  It is a time to rededicate ourselves to those unique American values which guide our thoughts and actions.   

To be sure, the fight against terrorism and tyranny is never over.  It is not confined to foreign soil, but rages wherever liberty is threatened, even here at home.  It is not fought only on battlefields, but in town halls and legislatures and through ballots boxes across this land.  It is not limited to powerful weapons of war, but to the power of ideas expressed through the God-given rights enumerated in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.  It is undergirded by those values that Americans have for centuries known and lived.  These are not hollow words, not clichés, not quaint ideals of days past; they are a commitment, a lifestyle, a trust which demands us to live as patriots for the sake of future generations. 

Patriots, be thoughtful, be grateful, be proud, be vigilant! 

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