Like a Skyscraper

I heard this song tonight on the radio while I was preparing some things for Thieu Nhi tomorrow.

This song is so beautiful, because I already had 9/11 in mind.

"You can take everything I have

You can break everything I am

Like I'm made of glass

Like I'm made of paper

Go on and tear me down

I will be rising from the ground

Like a skyscraper, like a skyscraper"

I stopped doing what I was doing and just sat in my chair and listened. It was the raspy voice that was full of heart and emotion that caught my attention. I didn't know who it was because I didn't know any pop stars who sang like that, except maybe Hayley Williams from Paramore, but it wasn't her voice. This type of voice fits Christian rock. But anyway a quick search on youtube found that it was Demi Lovato of Disney fame (probably in Miley's shadow). Anyway I've heard of before but never heard any of her songs before. Kudos to making a great song Demi. I'm sure you'll be making nice royalties as radio stations across the country play this song tomorrow (err today).

This song connected to me on so many levels. At the personal level it reminds me that there is a will of fire deep within us that no one can extinguish. It reminds me that hatred put towards us will not win. The ultimate victory is to rise above the hate and to love yourself and spread it. I believe this song is a great metaphor for the way our nation can rise above terrorism after ten years since 9/11. There is no victory in hate, there is only victory in love.

By the way, the victims of the war on terrorism are now triple the initial amount of 3,000 on the day of the attack. About 6,000 servicemen have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since then up until now. Let us pray for the souls of the departed, for peace and successful democracy in the two new nations, and for our soldiers to come home safely.