Discovery in the night skies

I may not be a victim of September 11, and I am fortunate to not know any victims or their families directly. But like others around the world, I was touched with feelings about the day. But I was fortunate to find hope and perspective was just before I went to bed. It's when I take the trash, put feed out for the birds and water the garden. That's pretty trivial, but it's a few precious minutes of private time to be outside and simply gaze up at the stars.

That's when it struck me. Looking up, streaking across the sky, I saw the blinking lights and the faint whisper of a large passenger jet making its way east from LAX toward the U.S. east coast.

One year ago, the skies were utterly silent.

It is often in the most trivial of moments that we discover something profound. For me, it was seeing a jet streak overhead in the night sky. In that moment, I realized that all the hatred and terror of September 11 was a failure. It did not stop us. As sad of a day as September 11 will be for people around the world, life continues unabated. If the aim of terror is to stop the march of progress, it's failing. You only have to look at the stars above for proof.