Nicholas Carr’s  book The Shallows quotes George Dyson (author of Darwin among the Machines), who was invited to give a talk at the Googleplex – Google’s corporate headquarters.  George Dyson found the experience troubling.  It made him recall a remark made by a perceptive friend who had visited the Googleplex.  Said Dyson’s friend:  “I thought the coziness to be almost overwhelming.  Happy Golden Retrievers running in slow motion through water sprinklers on the lawn.  People waving and smiling, toys everywhere.  I immediately suspected that unimaginable evil was happening somewhere in the dark corners.  If the devil would come to earth, what place would be better to hide?”

Nine-Eleven is observed again today, this time with as much or more politics and contention as ever  before.  It’s regarded by so many as such a defining moment in U.S. history that it’s hardly possible to be unaware of the date.  It IS possible to welcome a reminder that this day is a part of the human world,  not apart from it. 

I have a perpetual calendar with a quote for every day of the year.  I’ve kept  it since the 1990’s, because I like most of the the quotes (and have  replaced the few I don’t like.)  For September 11, the calendar’s quote is this:

“What is Love?  I have met in the streets a very poor young man who was in love.  His hat was old, his coat worn, the water passed though his shoes and the stars through his soul.” – Victor Hugo.

“The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of wonder.”  ~ Ralph W. Sockman, senior pastor of Christ Church (United Methodist), New York City.