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My World Changed the Other Day

by Cliff Johns

My world changed the other day. My world changed in such a dramatic way
that I believe it will never be quite the same. A part of the world, far away, governed not by the rule of law based upon personal freedom and responsibilities with liberty and justice for all, has in the past been radically defined by non-elected leaders, despotic kings, sultans, premiers; leaders who thought of themselves as a god; along with various religious types and fanatics who define themselves and lead their followers based upon some obscure and much distorted text from their "holy books", has impacted my world too much, for too long. Now I'm mad and want to do something about it, and I will.

My world has respect for others and even encouragers freedom of religion. Too bad that so much of the rest of the world hasn't figured this out yet. Their acts, their oppression and suffering forced upon innocents in the name of _____ (fill in the blank) is truly man's greatest inhumanity-to-man. My freedom of speech and my freedom to worship, my freedom from fear and my freedom from want, where I can vote, enjoy liberty, flourish and live in a pursuit of happiness; all of which I am divinely thankful for, that it exists here, and especially that it is far from the evil that springs from hearts that are darkened like a cave, with hatred. Our experiment in freedom is not perfect. We are diligently engaged in freedom's cause, a good and just work. It is proper to set aside time to remember and to thank the God of the Holy Bible for the bounty that He has given us, the land of
opportunity He has set before us, and His promise that He is always with us, that we can become good and great for ours, for others, always respecting their beliefs.

You see my world did change the other day; it changed for my family, my friends, and my coworkers too. It was a day that will change forever the course of world history, a journey we take together, united by a common grief and an eclipsing joy. It will be a day that I will remember for as
long as I live, like other events in my life; when I married, when my children were born, and when my father died. That day is embossed into my memory. It seems there has been little else going on in the world since; everyone is still talking about it, the images of that day replay vividly in
my mind, even now. Who could forget?

Why I can remember exactly what I was doing that very moment the news broke. I can recall every detail: where I was, the weather, who told me. The news took my breath away and I began to softly cry. Everything happened so fast, almost surreal. Was it like that for you? Personally, I felt a little awkward; I had just completed a meeting about starting a new enterprise. One that was risky both personally and financially but was very exciting because of its great potential. I had even signed a contract with my new
partners.

The day that changed my world was in the fall. It started out as a majestically beautiful day with brilliant foliage everywhere up and down the eastern seaboard with a clear blue sky that seemed to spread from sea to shinning sea. Who could have imagined that day would end the way it did. The day my world changed was not September 11, but it did include New York, Washington DC and the skies over Pennsylvania. As it turns out, the day my world changed was also the day the entire world changed. It changed because a small group of people struck forth onto America in a way that had never been done before. But, this small group did not harbor the evil of religious hatred, for they where here to escape it.

I was with them and I can honestly say that I have never been so proud of
any group of people as they and what they did on that day. I was even in
the small landing party that set foot on land at Plymouth Massachusetts. The contract I just signed was the Mayflower Compact. My new partners were Christians and businessmen. The enterprise we started was one of freedom and though it cost the lives of half of us in our very first year, that enterprise continues, even now. You see, before I was an American, I was a Pilgrim and the world truly did change the other day, it changed forever.

Cliff Johns- Thanksgiving Day 2001