Jonathan Kirkendall on thu 13 sep 01
Dear Friends,
First, thanks to all of you who saw my email early Tuesday morning right
after the Pentagon had been struck. Most of your responses reached me
before the building where I work closed down, and your words accompanied me
as I drove home through the empty streets of Washington.
My partner's company was conducting a seminar for 500 participants in a
hotel across from the Pentagon. He reported that when they first heard
about the World Trade Towers, you could watch the ripple go through the
crowd as the information was passed from person to person. As they prepared
for a presentation, the lights were lowered, curtains closed, and then,
almost on cue, the hotel shook and they heard a loud explosion. A woman
jumped up to look out and screamed out "They've hit the Pentagon." The hotel
was under military lock up for several hours afterwards. He got home safe,
mid-afternoon.
I so wish I could say things are back to normal, but they are not. Military
police stand on guard through out the city, and humvees and armored vehicles
are parked everywhere, at least in the neighbor of Foggy Bottom, just a
couple of blocks from the State Department, and 8 blocks form the White
House. I have not yet driven past the Pentagon, but tomorrow I will have to,
to get to an appointment. Traffic here is still very light.
And I want to say this: I grew up, for 17 years, in the Middle East, the son
of American missionaries. We still speak Arabic at home. I have immense
respect for Islam, and for the culture of the Arab world. Some of the
kindest, most generous people I know are Arabs. My father was one of the
hostages held in Beirut; an Arab friend of my father's was the one who
eventually gained my dad's freedom, at the risk of his own life.
I grew up thinking unkind things about Israel and Israelis. Many of my
friends' parents were Palistinians who had been forced from their ancestral
lands in 1948. And then I grew up, moved to the States...and eventually
fell in love with an Israeli, someone who had served in the army. He moved
on, and lo and behold, I did it again. My best friend was born and raised
in Israel. I discovered an immense wealth when I let go of my
preconceptions and prejudices.
Religion does not create intolerance. That is too easy. I do believe that
ego creates intolerance. And ego will use whatever it can to try to
solidify itself: religion, causes, whatever, and as it solidifies, great
suffering is caused.
Today for the first time, I will go to my studio to look at what I threw on
Monday. This is so huge and tragic and yet somehow things seem so very
ordinary. I can't quite wrap my mind or my heart around this even locally,
let alone its national or international impact. I am grateful to be alive
and safe.
Remember to tell people you love them.
Jonathan in DC
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