Today we reflect on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11, on the loss of nearly 3,000 people who died from the four terrorist attacks: firefighters, paramedics, police officers, passengers and crews of planes, and people who worked in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.
We join our thoughts and prayers with the survivors and the families of victims who are dealing with loss.
In New York, names of the victims will be read out in a Ceremony; ten of those names will be names of Australians:
Kevin Dennis, Alberto Dominguez, Elisa Giselee Ferraina, Craig Neil Gibson, Peter Mark Gyulavary, Yvonne E. Kennedy, Andrew James Knox, Lesley Anne Thomas, Stephen Kevin Tompsett, Leanne Marie Whiteside.
Lesley and I talked for over an hour about Australia, New York, and her work in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre.
A month later in Manhattan, on Tuesday 11th September, I woke up to one of those warm days in New York when the sky is a glorious blue without a cloud in the sky. I vowed to myself that I would take a walk in Central Park after breakfast. As I made a second cup of tea and looked south through the kitchen window, brown smoke billowed across the azure blue sky. I turned on the TV to see the second plane hitting the South Tower. All of the lives lost were precious lives. For some time the public did not know all of the victim's names. I later learned that beautiful and vibrant, Lesley Anne Thomas, was one of the victims.
In homage to Lesley Anne Thomas, I photographed her name on the North Reflective Pool, on a subsequent visit to New York.
Religious and spiritual leaders, Ambassadors to the UN, and a shocked and grieving community offered prayers in diverse traditions.
In the words of the Very Reverend James Parks Morton, founder of The Interfaith Center of New York,
The Interfaith Centre of Melbourne's contribution over the past twenty plus years has been for peace and to foster understanding through creating programs and events: interfaith ceremonies and services, arts and cultural projects, interfaith dialogue, interspiritual gatherings and study tours.
In New York, names of the victims will be read out in a Ceremony; ten of those names will be names of Australians:
Kevin Dennis, Alberto Dominguez, Elisa Giselee Ferraina, Craig Neil Gibson, Peter Mark Gyulavary, Yvonne E. Kennedy, Andrew James Knox, Lesley Anne Thomas, Stephen Kevin Tompsett, Leanne Marie Whiteside.
A personal reflection
I remember meeting Lesley Anne Thomas, a lovely, young Australian, on a boat cruise around the Hudson and East Rivers in August, 2001, when I was visiting New York. The Australian Consulate had organised the boat cruise.Lesley and I talked for over an hour about Australia, New York, and her work in the North Tower of the World Trade Centre.
A month later in Manhattan, on Tuesday 11th September, I woke up to one of those warm days in New York when the sky is a glorious blue without a cloud in the sky. I vowed to myself that I would take a walk in Central Park after breakfast. As I made a second cup of tea and looked south through the kitchen window, brown smoke billowed across the azure blue sky. I turned on the TV to see the second plane hitting the South Tower. All of the lives lost were precious lives. For some time the public did not know all of the victim's names. I later learned that beautiful and vibrant, Lesley Anne Thomas, was one of the victims.
In homage to Lesley Anne Thomas, I photographed her name on the North Reflective Pool, on a subsequent visit to New York.
Interfaith
Two days after 9/11, on Thursday 13th September, the Annual Interfaith Service for the Opening of the UN General Assembly, took place in St Bartholomew's Episcopalian Church, Park Avenue, New York, organised by The Interfaith Center of New York.Religious and spiritual leaders, Ambassadors to the UN, and a shocked and grieving community offered prayers in diverse traditions.
In the words of the Very Reverend James Parks Morton, founder of The Interfaith Center of New York,
"9/11 was a dramatic wakeup call for America and indeed for the world. Overnight the word 'interfaith' had a new meaning and probably for most people worldwide, 'interfaith' entered their vocabulary".While we commemorate the past, we also celebrate peace and of how people united after 9/11. Religious and spiritual leaders and their communities have come together across cultural boundaries in compassion and understanding.
The Interfaith Centre of Melbourne's contribution over the past twenty plus years has been for peace and to foster understanding through creating programs and events: interfaith ceremonies and services, arts and cultural projects, interfaith dialogue, interspiritual gatherings and study tours.
We honour all those who were killed on 9/11.
On this 20th Anniversary, our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who died.Rev Helen Summers OAM, Founder and Director
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The Interfaith Centre of Melbourne
Address: PO Box 18335, Collins Street East, Melbourne Vic 8003 Australia
Email: info@interfaithcentre.org.au
Address: PO Box 18335, Collins Street East, Melbourne Vic 8003 Australia
Email: info@interfaithcentre.org.au
Website: www.interfaithcentre.org.au