With Ike playing games with Texas and Louisiana and with today being the anniversary of that dreadful September 11 attack, it is again time to think about the basics. 

How can each and every one of us make a difference in protecting ourselves and our communities?

If we do not protect our own physical selves from harm, we have nothing.

We can talk about our state’s or our country’s power, or discuss things of great personal wealth, but ultimately, this talk is mitigated by the need for bare existence.  Unless we have security and the basic essentials, we have nothing.

Unless we can take care of our loved ones and ourselves, we are neutralized.

That is what 9/11, Katrina, Rita, Gustav and now Ike mean to me.  The basics.  Security.  Protection.  Existence.

Calamities such as these events prove that the very worse can really happen.

Lives can be lost, whole populations can go without sustenance.    We are often accustomed to modern conveniences, but with one big “woosh” or “bam”, we are back in the land of the primitives or the panics.

Everyone is at risk in some way at some time. 

After making sure that we have protected our loved ones, it is time to look around and ensure that our friends, our families, our loved ones, our neighbors and our brother and sister communities are not in need.  If they are, then, we can help. 

These externals destructive forces bring us internal storms of anxiety and helplessness.  We cannot stop Hurricanes from chasing up our coasts or ensure that our cities are not under atack by the enemy.  We can, however, return to the basics and make certain that we are grounded in body and in spirit so when those winds or buildings blow, we will not be moved.

written September 11