I've been so busy lately I almost forgot what today is, the third anniversary of 9/11. Here is my tribute, and I want you to watch it. It's a video from Christian artist and songwriter Michael W. Smith to a song he wrote entitled "There She Stands."

I will spend this day both mourning the loss of those who died on that tragic day - especially those firefighters, police, and emergency personnel who gave their lives trying to save others - and of our servicemen and women who've lost their lives defending our liberties in response to it. As you may know, my own brother, Maj. Alex Chaney, is stationed in Kuwait right now.

I will also spend this day celebrating the freedom that we do enjoy in this nation. A freedom that has been purchased by the blood of those men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. And, I will spend this day praying that God would bring an end to the strife, that injustice would be turned into justice, and that wrong would be made right. I will pray for peace, but not peace at any cost, for I believe that for liberty to be preserved, it must be defended.

So, I hope you will join me on this day in mourning the past, celebrating the future, and praying over the present.

Most of all, I hope we will all remember that on this day three years ago, the people who walked out of the purgatory that lower Manhatten became, out of that grey cloud of dust and debris, didn't walk out of there as white or black, rich or poor, Democrat or Republican, gay or straight. They all walked out of there as survivors, and as bearers of scars. They all looked the same. In some ways, we all bear scars from that day. We, too, are survivors.

I hope we will each remind ourselves today that, while we have many differences, that which joins us together is so much greater than that which keeps us apart. Perhaps that is the most fitting tribute of all to this day, September 11.