Jason Moon
Tonight I intended to write a reflection on 9/11 but two events entered my life today, words and music, that I need to share. One came in an email from a long time Catholic Worker who lives on the Catholic Worker farm in New York and serves as a deacon in the local Catholic Church. His homily or sermon today was called “As We Forgive”. It was about the tragedy of 9/11 and about the theme of today’s scriptures, ‘forgiveness’. He tells in words and stories of the difficulty yet necessity for healing of forgiveness, even for a destructive act of hate like 9/11.
The second event in my life came tonight when my wife and I and two friends went to the Coffee House in Milwaukee. I feel privileged to be at Marquette University when a young Lutheran pastor started the Coffee House in 1967. It is now a place that hosts fundraisers for grass roots groups in town. Tonight concert was for the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative. The main musician was Jason Moon an Iraqi Veteran who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Jason is a musician on mission to create awareness to help veteran who suffered from PTSD. Veterans are twice as likely as other Americans to be homeless and many suffering from this terrible brain disease and are neglected by society. He said the military taught him “to never leave a soldier behind” and he means to keep that mission with his music and songs like the title song of his new album ”Trying to Find My Way Home”. There were many reverberations of our deceased son’s music and art. Expressing such emotions as he does is healing for him, other veterans and us.
Jason has just finished his eight years in the National Guard a month or so before 9/11. After 9/11 he signed up for another year but found out after the year he had no choice but to be deployed to Iraq.
After 9/11 many including the National Catholic Reporter newspaper asked: “Who hates us and why.” “What is patriotism?” Was war the only choice?” Now Ten Years later and with two costly wars in lost lives and money in Iraq and Afghanistan that are still raging, the questions go unanswered. There can be no justification for the violence, suffering and death of 9/11. But no amount of money or human lives lost in war can bring healing to this painful memory. Perhaps forgiveness and music can help us to remember, understand and move on.
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