…You know, those days you can remember where you were and what you were doing.
…Those days that are forever burned in your mind and heart.
I was having a pastor’s fellowship meeting in my home that was to start around 9 AM (CDT). I was ready and so I thought I’d turn on the TV and watch something until my friends arrived. It must have been 8:03, because just as the TV came on, and as the announcers were talking about the plane that flew into the North Tower, a plane flew into the South Tower and a fireball erupted. There could be no doubt at that moment that America was under attack. We watched the rest of the morning as the Towers fell and the Pentagon got hit and wild rumors flew and United 93 went down in Pennsylvania.
And life in America has really never been the same since that morning 11 years ago today.
We used to have an innate sense of security, perhaps a smug security. It was shaken that day – shaken hard. Terrorism was something that happened “over there”. September 11 brought it to our doors. I remember sitting in my living room that night watching the news scrolling across the bottom of the screen (on Fox or CNN, not sure) saying that a terrorist cell has been uncovered in Cedar Rapids, IA, where I lived. It turned out to be a false report, but that shook me up a little. We could no longer feel completely safe again.
In some senses, we lost our optimism that day. Americans always held tenaciously to the hope that things were going to get better. Even when we had wars or recessions or tragedies, we were infused with a relentless optimism that the troubles were temporary and the march of American progress could not be stopped. Now, I do not see much of that optimism. People are not sure its ever going to get better. The buoyant confidence of Americans is draining dry.
It all changed on that fateful day. Three thousand people died that day and many lives were broken as well. But something else died as well – the safe and secure world we thought we lived in.
In this new world of threat and fear and war and recession, we have a secure hope. I love America, but if my hope is in the survival and prosperity of this great nation, it is misplaced. Perhaps 9/11 opened our eyes to reality. The old song says, “This world is not my home.” True. But it also cannot be my hope. I cannot trust in the freedom and prosperity, even the bright future, that once were thought to be a birthright in America. Such things have never been guaranteed to the followers of Christ and if we have to learn to live with less freedom and less prosperity, we will only be moving toward the historical norm.
But as Christians, our hope doesn’t change whether America prospers or fails. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God and ambassadors of that Kingdom here on earth. We will seek to influence our communities and our nations, but we must not look to the red, white and blue for our security, our hope or our joy. We must look to the Cross.
We sometimes forget what a unique world we have lived in. For much of its history, Christianity (not Christendom, but genuine gospel Christianity) has lived in hostile conditions, under persecution and poverty. The early Christians didn’t expect the government to pass laws to change lives. They knew that only the gospel could do that. And sometimes we need to be reminded of that truth. It is a great blessing in America to be able to be involved in the political process and we have a responsibility to use our influence as Christians. But we must never trust in this world, in politics, or even in our beloved country to make things right.
Everything changed on September 11, 2001. But if that day of horror and its continuing aftermath serves as a wake up call for the church and reminds us of our ultimate duty to serve the King and the Kingdom and to be its faithful ambassadors, then a good thing will rise from the ashes. If we become less enthralled with the things of this world and more enthused about eternal things – the Cross and the Risen Lord who purchased our future there – then blessing will come from Al-Qaeda’s curse.
May it be so.
And yet we have learned nothing. The people at the DNC actually booed God. How can He be true to Himself and keep the hedge of protection around America?
Well, Walt, my point was that whatever happens to America, God’s people can continue to walk in faith and power. I’d sure like to see our nation “turned around” but my point is that we need to realize that our citizenship is in heaven and our hope and joy is there – whatever happens to the nation.
Amen Amen Amen, Dave.
I am glad someone did what you did on this day and said what you said. This is what we need to hear. I heard a story told by Bill Gothard about the Eagle and how she built her nest. She would construct sticks and limbs and then thorns around the bottom. She would then add her soft feathers to the bottom along with soft grass for warmth and comfort. When the chicks were hatched, they enjoyed the heat from their mother and the softness of the nest she carefully weaved. As they grew, she would extract some of the insulation and soft feathers. Eventually, there was nothing preventing them from walking on the thorns. It was not comfortable and they desired to fly more than sit in the nest. America has experienced a similar affect and we, as Christians, need to prepare to fly. The return of our Lord is at hand.
I remember that day clearly, and I think I see this clearly: where we have gone over the last 11 years as a nation ought to be evidence that we, as individual people and as a nation, need to turn our hearts fully toward God.
We had a moment of unity, we had moments of collectively grief and anger, and we deployed our full might against the perpetrators of evil.
It was not enough. It will never be enough.
Let us never forget that our most indelible thoughts from those days were of those sacrificed and let us be driven by that–driven to care, to compassion, to complete surrender to the Gospel and the proclamation of it.
As to where I was: I was a young youth minister trying to defuse a church conflict situation where a faction of the church wanted to oust the pastor. And wanted me in the center of their group as leader/replacement pastor.
I was personally terrified, and then when the news started going in, but phone calls about the effort kept coming, I saw just how shallow the people involved were. There were much more critical things to deal with at the time, but they couldn’t see it.
there is a road due west from NYC that takes you up into the Ramapo Mountains of Jersey, called Skyline Drive . . . quite steep, a bit of a climb even in a V8 engine
descending that road on a clear day, we could see the Twin Towers far in the distance at a certain turn in the road
we could also see the Twin Towers on a clear day from the Tappanzee Bridge . . .
a long time ago, and we weren’t in that area (we had a lake house in the mountains then) at the time of 9/11
Our old friends and neighbors in the lake community could, however see the smoke on that day . . . the terrible smoke;
and when it cleared, the horizon of the distant city had been changed dramatically as seen from the mountain road leading down into Oakland NJ, near Wayne . . .
two of the members of the community who played with my children are dead now . . . gone to war after 9/11 not to return alive to their families, and I remember them now, this day,
not as the fine young men they became, but as the joyful children of a more innocent time, on the skateboards and bikes, down at the beach in summer, and skating on the ice in winter.
Teresa of Avila once wrote, ‘“Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.”
And we are promised, this:
“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Cor 15:26)
For a reason I cannot know, I deeply hope that Sam’s question in Tolkien’s LOTR will be a resounding affirmative ‘YES’:
“is all that is sad going to come undone?”
Among the ‘Alleluia’ people, today WILL be marked with hope.
L’s,
If you and anyone else on this blog does not mind, I think I shall remember those “two members of the community” you mentioned, not as children who rode skateboards and bikes, but as “young men” among so many other young men and women who went to war and died or got wounded in so many horrible ways fighting with an enemy of this nation who brazenly attacked our Homeland and fried over 3,000 of us in jet fuel and then laughed about it.
I also don’t think I will take Teresa of Avila’s advice and “let nothing disturb me.”
Rather, I shall keep in mind what Darryl Worley and Wynn Verble wrote, which in my opinion, is far more appropriate than what Teresa of Avila wrote. Let me share it with you and all.
“I hear people saying we don’t need this war
But, I say there’s some things worth fighting for
What about our freedom and this piece of ground
We didn’t get to keep ’em by backing down
They say we don’t realize the mess we’re getting in
Before you start your preaching let me ask you this my friend
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And you say we shouldn’t worry ’bout bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
They took all the footage off my T.V.
Said it’s too disturbing for you and me
It’ll just breed anger that’s what the experts say
If it was up to me I’d show it everyday
Some say this country’s just out looking for a fight
Well, after 9/11 man I’d have to say that’s right
Have you forgotten how it felt that day?
To see your homeland under fire
And her people blown away
Have you forgotten when those towers fell?
We had neighbors still inside going thru a living hell
And we vowed to get the one’s behind bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
I’ve been there with the soldiers
Who’ve gone away to war
And you can bet that they remember
Just what they’re fighting for
Have you forgotten all the people killed?
Yeah, some went down like heroes in that Pennsylvania field
Have you forgotten about our Pentagon?
All the loved ones that we lost and those left to carry on
Don’t you tell me not to worry about bin Laden
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?”
No, I don’t mind at all, C.B.
There is room for many kinds of remembrance on such a day.
We remember those young men:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nptA5uj6ZRY
Howell Scott has an excellent post about what happened yesterday in Lybia.
“Obama Fiddles While Radical Muslims Kill Americans!” — from From Law to Grace
Read it for a better perspective of the fact that there are people in the world who want to kill you simply because you exist on this planet.