"All across our nation, the tenth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001 has been cause for reflection and discussion. Ten years later, we're still asking one another what it meant, why it happened, and how do we live in the aftermath of that day. From the halls of Congress to university campuses to the pulpits in our churches, we will be debating the response of our nation during these last ten years as well as deliberating on what we have learned and where we go from here..."

Throughout the evening, we returned to prayer, utilizing "A Litany for Justice and Peace in Three Movements: Remembering Our Grief, Prayer of Repentance, and Vision for the Future:"

God of compassion, we ask for your healing on our wounds of grief, both personal and communal, and the sense of vulnerability following September 11th. May the memory of this national tragedy move our people to understand better the vulnerability, horror and fear of so many around the world living daily under bombs, amidst conflicts, in refugee camps, and the innocents suffering from all forms of physical and economic violence..." 

We heard Pax Christi International Co-President Marie Dennis, in introducing Colleen Kelly as the 2011 Teacher of Peace, share with us how Colleen and the September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows--who lost loved ones on 9/11--witnessed to the best of who we are: 

"They did not call for vengeance or retaliation. They did not seek to assuage their own heartbreak by causing heartbreak for others. They witnessed instead to the power and possibility of peace, understanding and hope, even in the midst of their own personal loss." 

And Colleen eloquently spoke of the work that she has undertaken with Peaceful Tomorrows, reaching out to other victims of political violence in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and experiencing a connection with others around the world who chose to respond with love instead of hate even as their hearts were broken from losing a loved one.

Keynote speaker Jim Wallis challenged us to not only denounce the "official response" that comes out of Washington and the national media and which so often embraces conflict and violence, but to also be about the business of announcing the unofficial responses that have happened all across this country in the wake of 9/11--like the evangelicals in Tennessee who opened their church to a Muslim congregation without a mosque to worship during Ramadan, or how a new generation is growing up attuned to the diversity of religious beliefs around them while also celebrating our common humanity, or the the blossoming of interfaith relations at every level...

Click here to read a short summary of the evening and see a short slideshow on our website. (And if you were at the event, we hope you'll share your comments and insights, favorite quotes from our speakers, and more in the "comments" section after the slideshow post on our website too!)

Click here to see photos from throughout the evening posted on our Flickr page.

And see additional updates about the evening on our Facebook page, where we hope you'll join in the conversation and post your own responses, thoughts, insights and reflections on the evening and the 9/11 anniversary.

We hope to have more for you from this event in the days to come. For additional resources on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, don't forget to check out this page on our website, where you'll find prayer resources, Peaceweavings brochures (including one by this year's Teacher of Peace Colleen Kelly of Peaceful Tomorrows), our 9/11 anniversary statement, and more.