Bleed Red

This is a topic I wrote about in May when Osama Bin Laden was killed, and it's appropriate to talk about it again.


September 11, 2001.


On Sunday the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 will be upon us.  The reason I am writing this tonight instead of on Sunday is because I'm working the next few days and wanted to make sure I put my thoughts out in the world before the day has come and gone.  


The song of the past few days and for the coming days, for me, is "Bleed Red" by Ronnie Dunn.


9/11 is a date that I will never forget for the sadness, fear and confusion that it brought.  But also for the unity, faith, and compassion that it brought.  


We can all easily bring back the horrible feelings of that day.  With all that is going on in the world right now - the wars, the hatred, the financial turmoil, political unrest, fighting between parties and governments, etc, it is more difficult to conjure up the feelings of unit, faith and compassion that such a terrible day brought upon our country.   


I remember hearing of so many firefighters, policeman, nurses, doctors, just plain old regular people packing their bags and heading out to NYC after the attacks.  I remember seeing our beautiful flag flying from every house up and down my street, from so many cars on the road, pictures hung from business doors, and signs saying "Proud to be an American."  This was the first time I had seen and felt that our country was united for a cause.  It was the first time I had lived through an event so powerful that not one single person was unaffected by it whether they lived thousands of miles from me or just next door.  People were helping one another.  People were thoughtful, altruistic and not asking what was being done for them, but what they could do for others.  


My song for this anniversary is "Bleed Red" because it reminds us that we are all people.  No matter our color to the world, our background, our faith, our orientation, or our income, we are all people.  We all bleed red.  We are all the same.   I believe that it is time for us to use this anniversary as a stepping stone to becoming a unified country again and to forget all of our petty differences and to work as a unified group again for the best of the country.  This is my prayer going into Sunday.


Here are some of the lyrics to the song - 
Let’s say were sorry, before it’s too late, give forgiveness a chance
Turn the anger into water; let it slip through our hands
We all bleed red, we all taste rain, all fall down, lose our way, 
We all say words we regret, we all cry tears, we all bleed red

If we’re fighting, we’re both losing; we’re just wasting our time
Because my scars, they are your scars and your world is mine
You and I, we all bleed red, we all taste rain, all fall down, lose our way
We all say words, we regret, well cry tears, we all bleed red
Sometimes we’re strong, sometimes we’re weak, sometimes we’re hurt and it cuts deep
We live this life, breath to breath, we’re all the same; we all bleed red