Thirteen

Coverage of today’s 13th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and our nation’s response to it, was very muted. In fact, you might say it took a back seat to two other news events - the President’s speech last night about his plan to combat ISIL and the emerging NFL scandal regarding the Ray Rice situation.

In terms of news values, I guess, you’d say it was the timeliness and prominence of those other two stories that trumped the focus on any 9/11 commemorations. Or maybe it signals that we are starting to move forward; that our collective wounds are starting to heal.

Of course, I make that statement realizing the recent poll of U.S. citizens shows we feel less safe now than we did before 9/11. It’s not surprising. I thought of issues of safety as we went through the cattle call of airport security while we were traveling this summer.

It is, I suppose, a necessary evil. Prompted by evil.

As we move forward from that horrible date, it’s worth noting the day has been recast less as a day to fret about our safety and more as a day to give service and remembrance. The volunteerism movement has taken the opportunity to encourage folks to step up on this date and give a little something back to our communities to make things a little better on the homefront.

As you know if you have read Coach Jeff’s Blog for a while, I’m a strong proponent of volunteer service dating back to the first President Bush’s call to action, termed “A Thousand Points of Light” in his inaugural address.  After serving my church, recently, as a member of our pastor search committee I have happily returned to my previous church duties as a member of one of our standing committees.

If you aren’t affiliated with a religious organization or entity of any sort, there are plenty of ways you can show your own volunteer spirit. Look no further than the edition of the Sunday newspaper in your community and there are always various lists of opportunities to serve.

There are places just around the corner from where you live who could use your help.

• Charitable Organizations
• Your neighborhood association
• The elementary school in your community

You can volunteer as a scout leader or den mother (or dad); you can serve as a math or science tutor.

Or you can even be like me, Coach Jeff, and spend 11 glorious years on the baseball diamond as a youth baseball coach! I promise: The reward far outweighs the cost!

JG

Orignally posted 9/11/2014