By Deborah Bier, publisher and editor of this ezine.
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
 At first, we felt silly publishing a new Concord Magazine just a few days after the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC. We wondered, "Does what we have to offer make any sense of these tragedies? Why bother?"
We thought about it and decided we had to bother.
Those of us who have survived are at risk of becoming cut off from life. The very aim of terrorism is to spread horror, mayhem and chaos. September 11th's events tore apart lives not just through violent destruction, but by shear panic and terror. If we become allow our sense of life to be hijacked along with our planes, to be taken over by intimidation and fright never again to be reclaimed, then terrorism gains the upper hand.
Under current circumstances, to affirm life is both an act of defiance as well as one of healing. If we are to endure what has happened, then we have to wholeheartedly embrace our vitality. We must delight in our children. Fall in love with our spouses all over again. Bask in our beautiful September sun. Act out passion with our hearts, minds, and bodies. Laugh and cry with friends. Rejoice in our accomplishments. And experience all the way down to our bones the strength we build as we turn to one another in our sorrow.
Otherwise, we have nothing to harvest from this experience but trauma and misery. Closing our hearts and numbing our pain is all too tempting, but it is the way to despair. To embrace our lives and appreciate our blessings is to create sanity and hope in a world turned up-side-down.
We publish this ezine because we have an enduring passion for all things Concord. We consider this to be a special place of great physical beauty, amazing history, spiritual richness, fascinating people and an enormous quality of life -- in general, a wonderful community in which to live, work and visit. We cling to what is real about this place like the drowning cling to a life raft: it helps keep us afloat in a sea of grief and anger.
In this spirit, we offer you a new Concord Magazine filled with our Fall's beauty. We do so to affirm our lives, fragile as they may seem right now. We dedicate this issue to healing, peace and understanding for all people.
Artwork: Culprit Fey, Micrografx and ArtToday.
 
 
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