Having more than 5,000 people die in one place on a sunny fall morning changes everything. Whatever most of us may have been thinking about life on the morning of September 11, our view was suddenly and violently changed by the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the attack on the Pentagon by terrorists. Life is neither predictable nor safe. It is not even assured.

But something with the power to change our thinking in an instant ultimately has the power to change the world. Thoughts become words. Words become actions. And actions, bit by bit, change the world. Whether the world changes for better or worse in the days, months, and years to come depends almost entirely on that most ephemeral of human phenomena – the passing thought.

Sadly, we are too much aware of the power of negative thoughts arranging themselves in deadly designs of hatred, intolerance, and cruelty. A mere thought that flickered first in a sick and evil mind far away from “ground zero” brought down the mightiest buildings in our nation’s brawniest city.

The hurt and anger brought on by that evil thought made manifest in the pain and suffering of innocent people has unfortunately inspired other negative and dangerous thinking that is hurting still more innocent people. Feeling aggrieved, some Americans have lashed out at fellow citizens who are Arab or Muslim.

On Monday, Sen Joseph Lieberman, the nation’s most prominent Jewish politician, stood humbly in his stocking feet in the Muhammad Islamic Center in Hartford proclaiming that “any attempt to impose any punishment or harassment to Americans who are Arab or Muslim is un-American and unjust.” One of the finest thoughts to come from our nation’s founders established justice as both a weapon and a shield. We appreciate that Sen Lieberman was thoughtful enough to remind us of that.

This week, however, we began to understand the power of people who have thought about doing something positive about the hatred, intolerance, and cruelty. They literally “make up their minds” to change the world for the better. Here’s what some of these positive thoughts have done:

The American Red Cross reports that people have opened their wallets and their veins in record numbers following the terrorist attacks. Blood drives are booked solid, and last week Amazon.com was raising more than a million dollars a day for the Red Cross.

Last Saturday, emergency service volunteers in Newtown collected donations at supermarkets and busy intersections, raising nearly $60,000 in six hours to benefit the New York Firefighters Children’s Fund.

Countless other initiatives have been launched with the thought of making things better. We found a roadside stand manned by children on Great Ring Road, selling tomatoes, brownies, and cupcakes in the cause of alleviating suffering. They raised $65. Other kids were collecting bottles in their neighborhood, raising another $40.

The best way to see what the world will become tomorrow is to closely examine what we are thinking today.  It does not bode well for the world if our own thoughts are filled only with hatred and intolerance – though it is fair to hate hatred and to be intolerant of intolerance. We are encouraged, however, by what we see right here in our hometown. People are thinking and talking about justice, compassion, patriotism, and resolve. So thought by thought, word by word, action by action, we believe the tide will turn on terror, and the world will become a better place.