March 21, 2025
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Give Back in Gifts to the World
March 21, 2025
By Dianne Morin
The arrival of Spring recently beckoned me to the basement to clean out some items that we’ve stored way too long.
I came across a box of our son’s old childhood books and randomly pulled out The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein.
Wow. I remember purchasing that book for our son Michael when it was first published in 2007, in honor of the sixth anniversary of 9/11.
It’s a story about Philippe Petit, the French circus performer who, in 1974, walked a tightrope between Towers 1 and 2 of the original World Trade Center (WTC).
The book was significant to me (having worked in WTC 2 at the time of September 11). It was my way of introducing the lost Towers to our then five-year old and sharing how meaningful Philippe’s feat was in hindsight of the Towers now being gone.
I’m remembering now what young Michael said the first time I read that book to him: “Philippe is like the baby Jesus because he can walk on things that other people can’t.”
Well, not exactly Michael. But good for him, paying attention in his first-communion class. And I could actually follow his five-year-old logic: Jesus walked on water; Philippe walked on air. Not everyone can do that. Both of those feats would have taken tremendous conviction and faith. Not everyone has that.
Thinking more deeply on it now, and from what I remember about Petit’s story, it certainly did seem that Philippe was lured to the Twin Towers like some people are drawn to the church. Before the Towers were even constructed, Philippe saw the blueprints of the World Trade Center while working as a circus performer in Paris. And from that instant, his heart and soul wrapped itself around the thought of walking a tight rope between the two 110-story buildings that did not yet even exist.
For years, Philippe waited and watched as the Towers were built, side by side, floor by floor. With each steel beam that was welded together, his religion silently strengthened. Month by month, year by year, Philippe was slowly becoming one with the Towers. They were his calling. His entire being was dedicated to the mere idea of something. A lot like religion.
And then, on the morning of August 7, 1974, to the astonishment of the world, Philippe Petit finally, and miraculously, walked on a cable the width of a thumb 1,350 feet above Manhattan, feeling the sway of the Towers beneath his legs and, most likely, the breath of God on his face. And though this magnificent feat was considered a crime (he was arrested after the fact for “trespassing; public inconvenience”), Philippe’s explanation somehow justified it:
“We are artistic criminals. We are not stealing. We are bringing something back to the world; a gift.”
I feel there is a lesson for us today, as the Middle East rages and terrorism continues to destroy. Religion — giving back — can not be found in the church, the temple, the mosque or the world capitals housing our leaders … but in the collective heart and soul of all mankind.
My wish is for all people and leaders around the world to take inspiration from Philippe Petit: find your religion and instead of using it to take away — give it back in gifts to the world.
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Give Back in Gift to the World
March 21, 2025
Give Back in Gift to the World
March 21, 2025