Contributed photo Ground zero This photo was taken by a Vollmer Associates structural engineer working at ground-zero on Saturday, September 15. It shows the remains of the World Trade Center plaza, looking west near Church Street, between buildings 4 & 5. To the left of the flags is a crushed ball-shaped sculpture that was the centerpiece sculpture on the plaza, To the right of the flags is the remains of tower one. According to Vollmer spokesman and Highland native Bill Ihlo, the crew from the nearby Manhattan firm was inspecting for structural damage to adjacent buildings, utilities and subways on a volunteer basis for FEMA, before anything was organized formally by NYC. (Click for larger image)

Family of Man vs. God/Nature

On September 11, 2001, God and Nature were sparklingly clear. The greens of grass and leaves of trees were apparent against white and blue skies. As abundant in its radiance as it was in all its presence, God and Nature’s world could not have been more evident.

Simultaneous to this magnificent presence of God, the presence of man was erupting in destruction—a destruction so severe that 5,000  of our family-of-man Americans have been lost to us. Those family-of-man Americans were robbed of the precious gift of God/Nature, robbed of the precious gift of time. Robbed of the time to see, hear, touch, feel, love, share, “be” who they were becoming, who they wanted to be and, above all, to “be” with those they loved and those who loved them—their families, their wives, husbands and children.

We are so shocked in this trauma and loss and although I write within that very state, I am once again reminded so clearly of the two distinct systems in which we exist.

There is, no matter how horrific (the trade towers did go down) or terrific (the trade towers were created), the presence of man with incredible power of self-blindness and therefore, self-harm. Destroying a fellow human being destroys the human being we all are within. There is also God and Nature, and this blessing is only unavailable when we are not capable of seeing it.

I ask readers, as you read this, to look around you—to go past yourself, your newspaper, your TV and see—see that God and Nature is around you, and yes, always is around you—even during these unspeakable events since September 11, 2001.

And because this is so, God and Nature is “alive and well” even while so many of us are dying—albeit in vain. I pray for those dying, with all the fears and pain they suffered those awful moments that some could say what I now say to myself:

Dear God,

I thank you for being with me in this moment when I am so frightened, so lost, so hurt and in such pain and severe despair. I thank you God and ask you to remain with me, to help me and then to help those I will soon leave behind. Help them, dear God, to see better that which you are, so that the understanding and forgiveness, which can only emerge through you, can be theirs.

Once again, the family of man, with its horrific blindness to you, destroys the children we are from you and because of you.

Help us, dear God and Nature as we come back home to you. Please bestow your magnificent presence upon us and always, always, those we must leave behind us now.

I will miss them, and I love you, dear God and Nature.

Your kid,
M. Pelli Wheaton
Stockton, NJ