Until a few decades ago, the twin-towers of the World Trade Centre of Manhattan, New York, stood high, matchless in elegance and majesty in a concrete jungle. It was the nerve centre of the city and one of the most visited and admired of places. But the huge vacuum, which is today called the ground zero, betrays what evil and perverted minds can do to human lives! New York City is never the same after that fateful day which is now popularly called 9/11 (September 11, 2001). Terrorists razed the two towers to the ground, striking it with two hijacked planes on the morning of that day. The ground zero has become synonymous with a sense of powerlessness in the face of evil. The vacuum of fear, insecurity and helplessness in the minds and hearts of New Yorkers and the people who loved that place can never be replaced again.
As a person who had climbed up the Twin Towers several times when they stood touching the sky, going back to the site of this dreadful man made devastation was never easy for me. Is evil so powerful that one feels helpless at its most visible presence? Has hope eluded the humans in the face of hatred and perversion? Why is such a mighty structure that once stood there kissing the skies absent today? Are we resigned to the fact that evil has overpowered us and made us powerless? Why did God allow the evil forces to take the lives of 2,979 innocent people?
But even in the midst of paralysing fear and utter helplessness, we discover stories of hope and heroic sacrifices. Thousands of volunteers, firefighters, police personnel, chaplains and emergency, sanitation and construction workers and others worked round the clock to feed, comfort, clothe, massage, counsel, worship with and provide places of safety. There have been truly liberating and transforming spirits all around on that fateful day as people placed their trust in God – the source of all solace and security and experienced deep meaning in love, compassion, service, self-sacrifice and faith. The aftermath of 9/11 has led us to an unshakable faith in goodness, to believe that love is stronger than hatred and that it cannot be conquered by evil.
Collen Kelly, the bereaved sister of Billy Kelly who was one of the victims of WTC that day, describes the outcome: “I still believe that good will overcome, that goodness will overcome, and that my worldview has not been shattered. There were too many good things that happened that day, and all the days afterward – the thousands and thousands and thousands of acts of kindness. If anything, I am more firm in my belief in God; more firm in my belief in family; more firm in my belief that there is an overwhelming goodness in the world, and that goodness will overcome”.
