In the aftermath of yesterday's attacks on New York and Washington many are still shocked and looking for answers. Out of deep respect for all those who are suffering, we will put the politics of food production and environmental protection aside for this week.

Like so many other people, I came to work today with the memory of yesterday's tragic events thinking the only thing to do was to continue on with the tasks at hand. As I went to pick up the phone to make my first call, I suddenly froze. In that instant, I remembered the last calls made by several passengers with cell phones from the hijacked planes as they veered towards their deaths. With the end rapidly approaching all they could do was to call out to the ones they loved. I began crying. I thought how many opportunities I had to simply call my wife and tell her I loved her - and how seldom I did.

I realized in that instant that almost any time, I could reach out to a friend, a family member and tell them I loved them and missed them and felt blessed that they were in my life - but I didn't. Instead, I went about busying myself with the daily tasks and taking for granted this precious and wondrous gift of life. 

Viewing the pictures of the rubble and ruin of the World Trade Center boggles the mind. Seven stories of twisted concrete now stand in a pile where the twin towers collapsed upon themselves.

Entrapped inside this mountain of twisted steel and crushed concrete lay the remains of thousands of innocent deceased. People who have left this life and will never again feel the warm sun upon their face, taste the sweet goodness of food, or enjoy the bounce of a child upon their knee, or the graceful joy of a lingering stroll by a rushing river.

Yet, in this instance I now realize how oblivious we all are to the miracles of simply being alive; the sweet pull of air into the lungs, the feel of the sun on the face, the touch of a loved one's hand. 

From this vantage point even the movement of my fingers typing across the keyboard now holds me completely in awe of this mystery and wonder of life; a life so delicately balanced and so quickly erased.

In the aftermath of this tragedy, it will not suffice to point a finger at a few individuals, denounce them as animals, bring them to justice and carry on as if nothing had changed. This is not enough. Terrorism has no boundaries, no lines of demarcation. It is within our nations and within our states; it is broad and boundless as the human psyche. It cannot be isolated and destroyed. It is not a material people or territory - it is an attitude - a way of thinking and dealing with the world - one which has no regard for the preciousness of life.

In the weeks ahead, as we find our way through these troubled times I pray each of us can find some peace with this in our own ways.

I plan on calling friends and family and letting them know how I care about them. I plan on taking time to really taste my food, spend lingering minutes just watching my breath and take long walks letting the quiet wind wash over my thoughts, healing my pain, my sorrow.

I plan on attending to the tasks at hand, yes, but placing at the top of that list the challenge of becoming more mindful of the preciousness of life. I some small, but powerful way, I know this is combating terrorism.

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