May We Never Forget

“Even a single lamp dispels the darkness”
                                                                Gandhi

I am on a ten-day tour to the East Coast. First stop is Chicago for the Healing Touch Conference; second stop, New York City to do a night at One Spirit Learning Alliance; third stop, Kripulu Retreat Center in Lennox, Massachusetts to do an annual women’s retreat with my dear friend Joan Borysenko.

Right now I am writing this from NYC where I just visited the 9/11 Memorial. I had so many emotions seeing all the names of the people who lost their lives that day, and the beautiful waterfalls that were built where the towers stood.

September 11^th is one of those days where I am sure many of us remember exactly where we were when we heard the news – one of those moments where time seemed to just stop. I remember trying to process what I was seeing on the TV screen and thinking about all those lives and the chaos that was happening. For days afterward I felt like I was in a fog trying to go about my life and yet not really fully present (very much the way I have felt this past week with the news of Robin Williams passing. Robin lived in my town, and I had met him many times working in the comedy clubs when I was younger…always charming and kind. The loss has been so hard for us all).

I remember a few days after 9/11 driving into the city to the Dolphin Club to go swim in the San Francisco Bay. My fellow swimmers must have been feeling the same thing – that being in the cold refreshing water would ease the pain and clear our minds somehow. I had an amazing experience that morning. While I was swimming I got an entire download in my mind of a song about what I was feeling. The night before I had been part of a candlelight vigil where everyone came out of the restaurants and stores, stopped their cars, and stood for 5 minutes in silence…some holding candles, some praying, some crying…but all of us together…. as one… bonding in unity over this tragedy. So the next morning, when I was swimming, I heard the words and melody: “I’ll light a candle in your memory, though I don’t know who you are…. I’ll light a candle….”

The song actually came to me – all the words, the music and the arrangement – everything all at once. The funny part of this story is that I was so afraid I would forget it that I swam to shore and approached a total stranger talking on their cell phone and asked if I could borrow it. When they said yes, I called my message machine and sang the whole song into it. When I was done I handed the person back their phone and dove back into the water. This tourist laughed and said, “You people in San Francisco sure are crazy!”

At the memorial there was a beautiful plaque with an artist’s rendering of the twin towers and the first responders saying “May We Never Forget.” As my song says: “We will light this world with our love.” Lets make a vow to never forget that day and keep shining our lights, loving each other and sharing our love…