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The Adan Center Mosque in Herndon suffered damage from a recent attack. They have re-painted and cleared most of the damage, except for the carpet (which has to be replaced) and some places on the walls. A local resident offered a donation. The representative from the mosque said that the best thing that can be done is to direct any donations toward relief efforts for the airplane crash sites. He kept talking about the tragedy and said that "the part of the body that is hurting the most needs the most help." (They are building a new center in another location and still insisted that donations go to the rescue efforts.) The other thing he really emphasized is education, that a lot of Muslim people were also killed in those blasts, etc., and that the Muslim community would like to be able to just grieve and not be fearful now every moment or be under something similar to house arrest (which many do not feel safe enough to leave their homes). He was most gladdened and heartened that many individuals contacted the mosque and that they wanted to help in the clean-up/repairs.

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The Executive Director of the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) presented a check to a Palestinean bookstore owner on behalf of the NCPC staff. The owner of an Islamic bookstore in Alexandria, he was stunned by the two broken windows he found this morning, and equally stunned by the $700.00 check that was presented to him from NCPC. The Executive Director of NCPC told the reporter [something like]: "This is what most Americans would do. The heart of America is welcoming the immigrant. We all are immigrants. Most Americans repairs broken windows; only the tiniest minority breaks windows...We are only doing our small part, inspired by our own values and the incredible acts of bravery and kindness seen in New York and the Pentagon."

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Elizabeth Lesser, author of The Seeker's Guide and the cofounder of Omega Institute wrote this piece for a local newspaper:

In the aftermath of Tuesday's heartbreaking events I have been leaning on the words of my heroes. I turn to people like the Dalai Lama, or Thich Nhat Hanh, or Jane Goodall, or Iyanla Vanzant -- courageous people who have confronted evil in their lives, and met it with the strength of love. I think of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and our own American hero, Martin Luther King, Jr. If our country were under the leadership of people like this, what would they be telling us and the world? I believe that these people would tell us that strong and just action in the face of evil is legitimate. But they would also say that such action must not mirror the terrorist's actions. They would say that we have an historic opportunity to demonstrate a different kind of action, and in doing so to unify and heal our global community. This is what Martin Luther King called a "double victory." In speaking to those who sought violence against him and his dream, King said, "We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory." We need this "double victory" now. Yes, we need to bring the perpetrators of evil to justice. But we also need to be agents of enlightened thinking in the world. When the shock and the grief of the past days have been given their due time, we must try to transform the terror into something positive. The double victory will occur when we find a way to protect everything we love about America AND simultaneously address the misguided policies and values that have unwittingly contributed to the very terrorism we deplore. When I see on television young, ignorant American men driving through Muslim-American neighborhoods, waving American flags, and denouncing innocent people, I am reminded that the roots of terrorism are in the human heart. They are not only in one religious or ethnic group, nor only in third world nations far from here. Cruelty is born in the hearts of angry people. Fundamentalist groups, be they be the Ku Klux Klan, or the Kymer Rouge, or the hate-filled organization responsible for this catastrophe, can form anywhere there is fear and ignorance. Whether it is a young Arab man who grew up in poverty and violence in the Mid East, or a young white man who grew up neglected and mistreated in America, the hatred that dwells in the hearts of man will not be vanquished by more hatred.

It is my prayer that each one of us, and our country, and the world might use this tragedy for a "double victory." That as individuals who care about the world, we would also be on the lookout for misunderstanding, intolerance, and arrogance, in our own hearts. That as a country we would not only search for the people who committed these crimes, and bring them to justice, but that we would also reexamine our policies that contribute to terror in the world, and bring ourselves to justice. That as we denounce behavior that is lacking in the values we cherish most -- respect for life, equality of all people, love and care of children, generosity as opposed to greed, stewardship of the land -- we will also look deeply at how far we have strayed here at home from those values.

The light of justice is bright. If we dare to shine it on others, a strong reflection will come back on ourselves. Are we Americans ready to look more clearly at our individual life styles, our national policies, and the ways in which we do business in the world? We will have done nothing to avenge the grievous destruction and loss of life if we don't take this time for self-reflection.

On Tuesday night, when President Bush spoke to the American people, I had an opportunity to shine a light within my own heart. Since the presidential election nearly a year ago, I have hardened my heart in bitterness and intolerance towards President Bush. After his speech on Tuesday, I cried for the first time since the planes had smashed into the Trade Towers and the Pentagon. I cried because I was ashamed. Ashamed at my own ability to hate. Certainly, I can find a way to have my own strong beliefs and to disagree with people without putting them out of my heart; without demonizing them; without thinking I know everything about them. Yes, my internal feelings towards President Bush are a far cry from high jacking a jet and causing death and destruction, but intolerance has a way of building and spreading, and I for one, am committing myself to the spirit of healing, not the spirit of violence.

People have asked me how each one of us might contribute in some way to the spirit of healing. In my own life, I prefer to "think globally, act locally." Here are some "local" things each one of us can do:

. . . pray for those who lost their lives in such frightening and violent ways. Pray for those grieving the loss of family members and friends. Pray that the cities of New York and Washington, DC, and the people who live there, recover their trust and their zest for living. Pray that the leaders of the United States and other nations will use restraint and wisdom as they search for answers and justice in this crisis.

. . . make time during these days to slow down, quiet your mind, and open your heart to the grace and wisdom of a higher force. Be mindful of your own reactivity and judgments. It is so important to be guided by a steady and quiet heart, not fear or speculation. Fear breeds the kind of actions we witnessed on Tuesday. When you feel waves of terror rising within you, stop for even a few breaths, and listen to the quiet voice of peace that is the harbinger of wisdom. And when you feel the strong pull of anger and the very human urge to retaliate, rest gently for a while in a love that transcends bitterness and hatred.

. . . resist focusing only on blame. Search deeper, for the causes of pain in the world. For even as we bring these particular madmen to justice, so too we can root out the madness in a world that perpetuates hunger, torture, poverty, inequality, and environmental destruction. What happened on Tuesday is connected to what happens everyday to people within our country and those far from America's shores. Truly we are all one people.

. . . dedicate your life to spreading love in your daily interactions at home and work. Do not be afraid to take a stand for love. In his famous letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King wrote, "Though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter, I eventually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love? 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.' Was not Amos an extremist for justice? 'Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.' Will we be extremists for hate or for love?"

. . . have faith that there is a higher reason for everything and that good will prevail. At the beginning of the bus boycott in Montgomery, King told his followers that "faith in the dawn arises from the faith that life is good and just. When one believes this, he knows that the contradictions of life are neither final nor ultimate. He can walk through the dark night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for good. Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment. Tonight we must believe that a way will be made out of no way."

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An article in the Miami Herald, We'll Go Forward from This Moment, written by Leonard Pitts Jr. on September 12, 2001.

Other Stories:

• Email Alice K. Johnson for a beautiful story with the subject: Flights that ended up in Canada 9/11 story Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001.
• Merlene Davis, a columnist for the Herald-Leader, at (859) 231-3218 or mdavis1@herald-leader.com, wrote an article published on October 4th on, "Arab-American Profiling Is Wrong; What About Blacks?"
• "An Extended Family Lost," Newsday, September 30, 2001.
• "We are friends, we are not enemy," Omaha World-Herald, September 30, 2001.
• "Groups Display Support for U.S.," The State (Columbia, SC), October 1, 2001.
• "A Local Refugee's Story", Detroit News, September 28, 2001.
• "Displaced workers say they are blessed, worried," Boston Globe, September 27, 2001.
• "Immigrants discuss fears, patriotism," Courrier-Times, September 27, 2001.
• "Veterans of Internment Camps Speak Out Against Harassment of Arab-Americans," Associated Press, September 26, 2001.