Because we are human, we want to know what it all means.

        In that crushing shock a year ago today, we were mystified. Now that day and its aftermath are layered with meanings.

        Around America, today is a day of public ceremony and private reflection, a day to look back and to look forward. It is a day to look for lessons.

        The indelible memory: A year ago, two great towers and the people inside them were reduced to a gigantic, twisted pile of steel and concrete, of flesh and blood. A hole was blasted in the Pentagon, a crater was created in Pennsylvania. America's alabaster cities, that day, were dimmed by human tears.

        Now the rubble has been cleared, the fires have been put out, the bodies have been recovered, the lost lives have been counted. The meanings remain.

        In a world often overwhelmed by petty strivings and noisy annoyances, the power of Sept. 11, 2001, reawakened Americans to larger, timeless themes: Life and death. Good and evil. Courage and cowardice. Destruction and rebuilding. Grief and rejoicing. Cruelty and sacrifice. Anger and mercy. Hate and love.

        For many, the horror tested or altered faith, or reaffirmed it. In the aftermath, there was a search for God's hand in what happened. Life and death were sometimes so close, the difference was a matter of small decisions, random luck, or fate.

        Did God decree, to paraphrase a Jewish prayer, who shall live and who shall die, who by fire and who by ash, who by falling and who by jumping?

'God understands'

        “Why does God allow evil like this to take place? Perhaps that is what you are asking now,” Billy Graham said on the National Day of Prayer.

        “You may even be angry at God. I want to assure you that God understands these feelings that you may have.”

        But even the Rev. Mr. Graham struggled with the question. Faith offered comfort; it didn't offer all the answers.

        The hard lessons were many: Hate is powerful. Religion can be a weapon. Visions of reward in heaven can create a hell on earth. The hijackers believed they would leave this world in a blaze of glory. It was a blaze, all right, but the glory wasn't theirs.

        We were not ready. Because we are human, we prepare for disasters we have seen before. But when catastrophe comes, it is something new, something inconceivable.

        Defense and intelligence agencies didn't anticipate the flying bombs. Airlines trained pilots to let hijackers take over, expecting them to land and make demands as their predecessors always had. Few thought through the implications of flight-school students who didn't want to know how to take off or how to land. New York City had a state-of-the-art emergency control center — in 7 World Trade Center.

        Plenty of experts warned about the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. None included passenger planes on their lists.

        Should they all have known better? Maybe not. The terrorists clearly chose a weapon no one was expecting. If we'd been looking for that, they'd have come another way.

        There may be no way to stop every determined terrorist or madman from doing great damage, especially if they maintain their discipline and don't care about getting away.

        Everyone is vulnerable. Terrorism is part of life now, an uncommon risk but as real as an earthquake.

Wellsprings of strength

        But there was more to America than the terrorists thought.

        The firefighters and police showed the way, rushing in where others fled.

        As America learned the magnitude of their sacrifice, their strength and courage was a well for the nation to draw on.

        New Yorkers, contentious by nature, pulled together and helped each other, in the towers, on the streets, in the aftermath. At the Pentagon, military and civilian workers were equally courageous under fire. In the air, uncountable lives were saved by the heroism of Flight 93's passengers.

        When America's enemies did their worst, America's people were at their best.

        Fire departments around the country sent people, dogs and equipment, or they passed the boot to raise money. The nation raised millions for the bereft families.

        And when necessity demanded, America fought back. Within a month, the nation launched a war that routed al-Qaida from Afghanistan and overthrew the Taliban protectors.

        Now America has a national to-do list: Root out terrorists and their ability to strike. Protect ourselves at home and at our borders. Secure airports and harbors. Improve intelligence-gathering and coordination. Prevent what can be prevented. Rebuild, in one form or another, what was destroyed.

        There certainly will be more attacks. Now Americans know they have the strength, the determination, the resilience, to bounce back again and again.

'Bye'

        Seared in America's memory are the victims' last phone calls, at once heartbreaking and comforting.

        From the hijacked planes, Todd Beamer said, “Let's roll,” and Barbara Olson asked, “What should I tell the pilot to do?”

        From the Twin Towers and the firehouses, callers with cell phones got in touch with loved ones for brave farewells and final words of affection.

        “I just want you to know that I love you always. Bye,” Melissa Hughes said, as the flames closed in and her husband slept.

        And maybe, finally, that's what it comes down to: Say “I love you always.” Remember that “Bye” could be forever. Cling to our loved ones, always. They, or we, could be taken in a flash.

        Perhaps, because we are human, that is the most important meaning of all.

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