On this day, when many of us remember a September 11th that felt out-of-order
(to say the least), we may find some comfort in… order.
9 11 13
is a sequence of consecutive odd numbers.
You may remember this from first grade, or from watching Cyberchase with your preschooler.
Or, it may have come to you quite accidentally while you were eating a chunk light tuna and cucumber unsandwich (aka tuna and cucumber on a plate.)
There you are, crunching away, and you think to yourself:
I wish I had time today to read or write a personal essay about the events of 9/11/01.
Then, out of nowhere, from where thoughts often arise, you see numbers scroll in your head.
9/11/13
Ahhh…that’s a nice pattern, you think. I wonder if there’s some gematria value or significance.
You add the numbers together in your head, 9 + 11 + 13 = 33.
Ah, you sigh again, 33. A double digit with repeating numbers. Nice.
You are also somewhat relieved that the numbers didn’t add up to 66.
You chuckle to yourself because you are superstitious.
And because you are suddenly present in that moment to how robot-like we human beings can be.
How quick we are to search for order as a way to make sense of madness.
But then, what else is there to do on 9/11, but search for ways to make sense out of madness?