As we approach midtown, we are bombarded with media blasting from all the electronics stores along Seventh Avenue. News, rumors, speculations all descend on us from the airwaves. “The White House has been targeted!”, “The Pentagon was hit!”, “There are still dozens of planes unaccounted for!” and so on. And no way to filter the wheat from the chaff. But is that so different from any other day?
Strangely, fear is not the dominant emotion I sense around me; outrage, horror, and wariness predominate. A passage from Frank Herbert’s epic novel, Dune, repeats in my head, “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.”. Apparently, I internalized that passage in my youth just for today! My mental state is also attendant on the realization, after the initial shock, that I will survive this day as long as I don’t do anything foolish. And, again, is that so different from any other day? “Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”. I remain.