http://www.WorldHealingDay.org

Invite everyone you know to be part of this historic global happening. Always the “last Saturday of April” worldwide.

I shall never forget that day: a crisp, clear day, the sky a transparent blue. Out of that sky came two airplanes crashing, thundering into the enormous World Trade towers; as if in a film, the first building collapsed-one floor on top of the other-till the entire structure reached the street. Smoke, fear, and hysteria enveloped lower Manhattan in a tragic haze. The second tower collapsed too, following the exact scenario of the first; more debris, more confusion, more pain. Smoke rose marring the perfect dome of the sky.

I sat there watching it all on television from my home in Massachusetts. I don’t know why, but I had to step outside to make sure it was not the end of the world. For at that precise moment, it really felt as if the world was coming to an end. The September sky above Massachusetts revealed nothing of what was happening further down in New York. I returned inside and again was transfixed by the horrific images of people running wildly, dazed, utterly confused, scared, covered thickly with dust. From this dust people emerged ghost-like, not sure if they were dead live or alive. They-and indeed we- shall never be the same again, nor shall we see the world with the same eyes.

Out of that violent day a new world emerged. We are still living with its consequences. It was the day when Manhattan became a dustbowl bleeding into the sky.