for those who DIDN'T die on 9/11

Today I am praying for all those public servants who did not die on September 11th. For all the fireman and policemen and EMT's who lost their lives on ordinary days, on days the media does not commemorate. I pray for the families of these devoted servants who did not get lauded or cared for in the same way as the families who died on 9/11. I pray for their children who were not given the same benefits or praise, who are not reminded daily that their parents died as heroes, too.

I pray for fireman who died in an ordinary fire, and his family.

I pray for the policewoman who died at gunshot in an ordinary robbery, and her family.

I pray for the EMT who died in an ordinary accident and his family.

I do pray for the dead of 9/11. I do not diminish the impact of their deaths. May God rest their souls and comfort their beloveds.

But I pray today for all those who wonder why the deaths of their loved ones are not as honored, as revered. These losses as just as sad, just as meaningful. The child of a man who dies in a car crash mourns no less than the child of a man who died in his office in the WTC. The child deserves no less care. His wife deserves no less attention. Their father deserves no less monument.

The woman who died selling newspapers in the WTC is no more or less precious than the woman who died in childbirth or from cancer. Their families will mourn them each as deeply. Their incomes will be as much a loss to the family. Their chairs at the family tables will be no less empty on holidays because one died on a more historic day than the other.

There will be millions of prayers today for those who died in 9/11 circumstances. So my biggest prayer today is for the families who are not honored, who mourn as deeply, who need as much. My prayers are for those who died in more ordinary circumstance.