Fighting back

Robina M Winbush, Presbyterian Church (USA)

A month after September 11, while I was travelling, I received a message on my voicemail.

"Hi, Aunt Robina," said Nia, my 9-year-old god-child in New York. "I was just calling to see if you are okay. Please call me."

When I returned the call, her parents explained she was having a difficult time sleeping and returning to a normal routine. Then Nia came on the line.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"In Florida."

"How did you get there?"

"On a plane."

"You got on a plane? I will never get on a plane again!"

I listened to a little girl's fears, her struggle to make sense of a world in which she no longer felt secure. She finally gave me her answer: "It will be better now because we are fighting back."

My heart broke because I realized this 9-year-old girl child was learning that violence was the answer to fear.

What do I say to her? How do I help her feel secure and know that God's answer to fear is not violence? How do I help her feel secure enough to look at the world through the eyes of a 9-year-old Afghan girl?