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Like I said, it's emotional even to talk about it, but I'm glad I came. This forever, forever changed my life, and hopefully it will make me a better person. And that's what I attribute to this experience down here. The fact that I think I've become a better person and I've met some wonderful people down here. …

Now I look at life and I want to appreciate what little I have, and I want to hold it dear to my heart. And I'm going to try to enjoy it. Spend more time with my wife and my family and my friends. And not take too many things too seriously, and not let the little things irk me or upset me, and just try to dismiss them and go on with my life. And hopefully enjoy whatever time I have left on this earth. I plan to retire soon. That's one decision I've made, and I want to enjoy myself.
Joe Bassetti
New York Department of Sanitation

For the first time in months, I felt myself wondering if we would ever heal from this tragedy. Would New Yorkers be okay? Would the workers be okay? Would I?

That's when I heard it - a rustling noise, and a light and cheery chirp. It seemed to be coming from above me, so I stopped and looked up into the gnarled old tree I had wandered under. This tree too had debris in it, bunched up in half a dozen places where the branches were close together, like fingers that had reached out and grabbed their prize and were now unwilling to let go. To my astonishment, those bits and pieces of debris had literally been transformed - made new - and were being used by the birds in their nests.

And you could hear the birds chirping to each other with joy. They had no idea that this debris was from a tragic and destructive event. All they knew was that they had been given material they could use to build their nests, the safe place they would use to hatch and rear their young.

I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks as I stood there in awe and wonder. I realized that somehow, everything was going to be alright.
Sister Grace
St. Paul's Staff, Ground Zero, New York

It made it feel like a breakfast room table, where people were sitting around in their socks and talking about what the day was…whether that was how many machines were broken or how many bodies they'd found, or id tags, or I'm still looking for my sister. These construction guys are out there looking too, for people that they knew. It was enormous to see us change like that. These big burly men and all these volunteers were able to finally let go of all these barricades we'd been asked to put up for so long. We were allowed to help each other. And love each other. And that was it.
Katherine Avery
St. Paul's Staff, Ground Zero, New York

For me, I think I look at people a little differently. … My biggest thing is I looked at the volunteers in a different way. I used to think of the Salvation Army as someone who stands in front of a store at Christmas time and rings a bell. I knew the Red Cross did things. To what extent I really didn't understand. After experiencing them, and seeing how unselfish they are, and later on, coming to St. Paul's and seeing the volunteers here from all over the country, it just taught me that…there's a lot more good people than bad people. If we can each convey that little bit that we have inside of us to each other, maybe what I say will impact Joe, and what Joe says will impact another person. If that little chain could just keep on going, and [we could] just be a little more tolerable of each other, I think it could just really, really help.

It was good. It was a healing. So that tragedy opened up another door for a lot of people, and if that could just keep going. To me it just gives everybody a sense that I live in a good place. It's got to keep on going.
Anthony Palmeri
New York Department of Sanitation

I was kind of skeptical about the youth of America, but this whole incident has changed my life. So many young people, teenagers in fact, have come in and volunteered - beautiful people. [They] have given of themselves willingly, and are getting nothing in return, just the mere fact that they were helping, and their help is really appreciated. I think I can speak for most of the workers. Without the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, all the churches, and all the volunteers who have given of themselves, this whole process wouldn't have worked
Joe Bassetti
New York Department of Sanitation

If this opportunity has arisen, and you have the opportunity to give of yourself so sacrificially, fear, is of course, involved. But fear is not the reason not to go. God gives us these opportunities sometimes once in a lifetime, and if you don't take it, you could wake up one day and regret forever that you didn't take that opportunity.

My hope…if we can help even one person then it was worth it.... If we can help one person get through this, work through this completely, and be okay, then I think [the effort] was worth it. If we can help a thousand then that's God's work.
Katherine Avery
St. Paul's Staff, Ground Zero, New York

I've learned a lot about good and evil. I've learned a lot about the power of prayer. I never knew anything about Episcopalians or Presbyterians, or gays, or people with nuts and bolts through their cheeks, or those Broadway people, but now I know them all. We're not the heroes. They are the heroes. They've cried and prayed out loud for me. I never thought I'd have a family like this one.
Joseph Bradley
Operating Engineer

One of my favorite banners that has emerged here at St. Paul's Chapel is a red banner with one word on it, one large word anyway, and the word is "Courage." I love that banner so much that when people started signing it on the fence, I wanted to take it off the fence, because I didn't want it to be signed. I wanted it to remain intact just the way it was created. But people have signed it, and I think it's all the more special now. The reason I bring up the Courage banner is because down at the bottom right-hand corner of that banner is a quotation by Anne LaMott that says, "Courage is fear that's said its prayers."

It's okay to have fear. It's quite natural to have fear. It's very human. But we're called to a different place. We're called to live a life of love and not of fear. God calls us forth from that place. God invites us to offer our fears and say our prayers, so that we too might be encouraged and empowered to take that next step. It's never easy, or at least, rarely is it easy. But I trust that God is at work even now, leading you into the next chapter of your life.
The Rev. Lyndon Harris
Priest- in-charge, St. Paul's Chapel, New York

Copyright 2002 ©Courtney V. Cowart

Many of the preceding voices can be heard at The Washington National Cathedral's September 11, 2002, service "Voices from 9-11: A Vigil of Faith, Hope and Love," also featuring composer/producer Gary Malkin, singer/songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman, and vocal artist Rachel Bagby, available by Web cast at http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral

Hope and Courage banners designed by Jessica Stammen.
Photography Krystyna Sanderson/ Krystyna Photography.

Krystyna Sanderson, a fine art and commercial photographer, photographed the relief project at St. Paul's Chapel, New York City, one block from Ground Zero, over a period of nine months. The photos include images of police, firefighters, national guard, engineers and construction workers, as well as clergy and round-the-clock shifts of volunteers. Photographs from the series have appeared in Spirituality and Health, Trinity News, Episcopal Life and U.S. Catholic, and can be viewed at www.ecva.org (Since September 11...), www.saintpaulschapel.org and www.nationalgeographic.org.