Ten short years have marched into the oblivion of time’s passing. For many, 10 years was but a blink in the eye of the universe. For many others, 10 years crawled and drudged, and in that slow grind we have trampled and tumbled trying to regain our footing, struggling to wash the mud from our brows with the waters of forgetfulness, consumerism, and, occasionally, blind despair.

Ten years have passed since the events of Sept. 11, and in 10 years, we have had platforms and forums to question, challenge, and engage our society – to take time not only for grief but to contextualize, to reflect, and to reorient ourselves in a rapidly changing and fearsome world.

And yet, in 10 years, we have often lost ourselves in the grip of hatred and isolation, turning our backs on one another, and succumbing to the weight of a terrible burden. The past decade has been tumultuous and has forced profound reflection on our status as communities of being – personal, national, and global.

While many aspects of our lives are in question, societal cohesion is a central topic. Recent have shown that, while the attitude of Americans towards Islam and Muslims is mixed, there is still a brooding distrust and fear of Islam. While Sept. 11 should not be seen as the crux of the narrative of worldwide Muslims and Muslim Americans, the tragedy undoubtedly brought Muslim Americans to the forefront of a wider national public discourse, and Muslims often into this conversation. That public discourse has obviously failed in producing a cohesive dialogue and presentation, and our society is still plagued by distrust and misinformation.

And while this profound misunderstanding exists, it should not be viewed as the pinnacle of our failure as a people. Islamophobia serves but as a microcosm of the realities of our societies. Our fears, our staunch resistance to altering the definitions and perceptions we have etched into our schemas and systems of organization and our inability to humbly deal with the growing pangs of the 21st century, have reduced our ability to communally embrace the differences of the “Other.”

In the 10 years that have passed, instead of critically and creatively addressing the rising divisiveness, we have been driven further apart from each other. While there have been many outreach attempts and, such as the work of the, these have not had enough effect to enact the drastic, and needed, societal shift towards unity. We are analyzing our relations through the wrong hermeneutic.

What must foster once again as a key element of our reality is community. It seems that in the past decade, since the event that changed the course of our lives and the direction of world history and progression, we have lost our sense of what it means to be in community, to be a part of something greater than ourselves, to accept the fear – and wonder – of trusting in others and in letting us be defined in relation, not in opposition, to those around us. What we are missing is a sense of interpersonal, national, and global communities of consciousness. We must foster these relationships if we are to strive for a sustainable future. Without our commitment to embracing community, we have been unable to address the challenges that the first decade of this century has offered, and without fostering community, we will be destroyed by the rapid changes of succeeding decades.

As the tenth anniversary of the attacks approaches and as another year passes into the frightening, crushing oblivion of a confused past, we must do more than honor and reflect. We must engage. We must question. We must act. We need to begin to take the steps to radically redefine how we approach and value one another. We need to take the time to remember the centrality, the raw necessity, of community in our lives and the profound sense of failure that will come if we choose to divide ourselves further.

My prayers and deepest love go out to the families and victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, and I pray that the tenth anniversary does not force a remembrance of the deep pain and divide that was experienced on that day and the years that followed but calls us all to celebrate the energy of life that so tenderly continues to thrive in our world.