Twenty years has gone by, and I still remember it like it was yesterday. I was driving home from dropping Holly off at school and heard on the radio that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I rushed home and turned on the TV and watched in horror with thousands of people throughout the nation as the second plane hit the other tower. I can remember saying, Oh no… the people! Prayer was on my lips and in my heart for days as we watched the news of death and rescue and recovery. Our seminary had televisions playing in the hallways for those who wanted to watch the news between classes. Our chapel was open for prayer. We prayed and wept together for our nation and for the people and their families who lost their lives at the hands of terrorism.
More than likely we all have a story to tell about the day the twin towers fell… where we were – when we first heard the news – and how we felt.
In a span of 90 min on September 11, 2001 the world changed drastically. Twenty years of change has taken place in our nation and in our world since that day, and some would say we are still recovering. Just this past week, two more people out of nearly 3000 people who died that day were identified. It is so difficult to imagine the pain these families have gone through as they have waited for the closure with a mixture of dread and hope. Let us not forget the prayers we lifted so readily on the days of September in 2001 are still needed today.
We remember the pain, and yet we remember the courage and the compassion offered by so many in response. We remember the first responders, many of which did not return home, who gave sacrificially in love of neighbor. We remember churches filled with people who came to pray together for those in peril. We remember the love shared and the hugs offered to those filled with fear about what tomorrow would bring. And in the midst of it all was God. God holding us, God calming us, and God present with us, reminding us that He would never leave us nor forsake us.
In the gospel of John chapter 14:23-27 Jesus tells us that what he offers us is not of this world…
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Remembering will be heartbreaking. But, by the grace of God, it will remind us that we are not alone when tragedy strikes.
America, America,
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown Thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.