As a peace activist opposed to war, and later as a bagpiper serving with the Vietnam Vets honor guard in Florida and Texas, I played at many military funerals. None is a happy occasion. The saddest moment, for me, was the flag folding ceremony. This reflection is drawn from those rituals. Sam Gould's poem, Don't Stand to be Recognized, comes to mind.

Together we remember, we commemorate, the lives that were taken, the souls that were taken. They did not evaporate into air. They are with us still in the choice we make to remember, to hold up with love and honor those who died in two great glass towers, who represented the world and its connections, those who died at the Pentagon, those who died on Flight 93 in sacrifice that others might live.

1. Every tear is a womb which can birth new life. 2. Grief is the narrow passage through which we pass from death to life.

If we are unwilling to learn from history, we commit ourselves to reliving the mistakes of our ancestors.

Remembering our ancestors gives life to ourselves and also to them, for we are our ancestors and they are us.