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Silent Reflection
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the United Kingdom takes a deep breath. We stand in silence, with respect and thoughtful contemplation. We honour our dead from the wars hoping that their efforts have not been in vain.
But on the 11th day of September 2001 the whole world stopped and looked in horror. How could anybody be unmoved by the destruction and desecration in America caused by a small group of terrorists?
I was meant to be travelling to New York a few days later as part of the YoungPRESS Project to report on the UN Special Session on the Rights of the Child. Both children’s welfare and youth governance are subjects close to my heart. We can, as informed and politically active youth bodies, be a force for good practise. But how can we act, what can we do against such aggression? If the Governments of the most powerful countries in the world are powerless in the face of such acts of evil what can the youth of today hope to strive for?
I am having difficulty coming to terms with the enormity of the events of last week. It is too huge, too horrible, too grotesque. What can we do? Can we pray, light our candles and hope for justice for the dead? Can we honour the dead with silent thoughts while we reflect on our future?
One of the UK Sunday papers quoted an American poet writing after the death of Lincoln.
from The Martyr
…They have killed him, the Forgiver --
The Avenger takes his place,
The Avenger wisely stern,
Who in righteousness shall do
What the heavens call him to,
And the parricides remand;
For they killed him in his kindness,
In their madness and their blindness,
And his blood is on their hand.
There is sobbing of the strong,
And a pall upon the land;
But the People in their weeping
Bare the iron hand:
Beware the People weeping
When they bare the iron hand.
A REQUIEM by Melville
May we hope that justice prevails in our troubled world.
Love and peace be with you all.
Tom Middleditch
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Thomas Middleditch
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