Remembering September 11

2001, USA

We all remember that terrible day. I remember feeling personally attacked, although I was safely several hundred miles away from the sites. I remember staring at the television screen, praying - crying - hoping - that the picture would be different the next time I saw it. I remember thinking, "this is a sick joke" and that in a minute someone is going to tell us this is a modern version of War of the Worlds. But no such message came. Things only got worse.

As the hours turned into days - weeks - months - years - things only got worse. Our nation, from that horrible frozen moment, went through stages of unified courage to divided hatred. We began to call people enemies who had done no wrong. We became suspicious of people who looked different from us (whoever us looks like); and began to fear people who worshipped in ways that were strange to our ways of worship. Then, we lost our trust in each other, and seemingly everyone else in the world.

We declared a "war on terror." But, again - things only got worse. We found reasons to label other people as terrorists and went to war against them, killing thousands of people who had nothing to do with our September 11 attacks. Then, we became the terrorists.

September 11, 2001 changed our world forever - changed my world forever - changed my grandchildren's world forever.

I frequently hear people say, "better there than here." Everytime I hear that, I want to say "WHY?" I love my children and my grandchildren, but I can find nothing in my Christian heart that can tell me that it is better for someone else's child to die from war than my own. I can find no biblical reason for saying someone should suffer more than me. In fact, Christ's example is for us to lay down our lives so others can live. Jesus told us to "love our enemies" and "pray for those who persecute us for His Name's sake" (which is what many think the Muslim world is doing). Many of us grew up singing, "Jesus loves the little children of the world." If Jesus loves them - and He certainly does - then, why do we condone their murder?

The Bible teaches that we should not fear the one who can destroy our body, but the one who can destroy our soul. The soul of America is "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but, we are losing our soul and becoming a nation of "death, fear, and the pursuit of revenge." God said that vengeance belonged to Him. We say "IN GOD WE TRUST" on our money, car tags, T-shirts, etc., but we don't TRUST God enough to let Him do His own work. Let's trust Him to handle the vengeance. He can do it better - in His own time, His own way, and with greater love!

One other observation: Someone said to me last night, "Another 9/11 has passed, and we're still safe. No more attacks." As long as so much of the world is dying from hunger, thirst, disease and war - we should never feel safe. There's an old saying that is still true - If you want PEACE, you must work for JUSTICE.

Let there be PEACE ON EARTH - and LET IT BEGIN IN ME.

Here's another significant 9/11 event:

1906, South Africa

In 1906, Gandhi called a meeting of 3,000 Indians in Johannesburg to discuss a strategy for defeating the Asiatic Registration Ordinance, a statute that required all Indian immigrants to register with the government. All those in attendance pledged to disobey the registration legislation and to accept the penalties that would result from their resistance.

This meeting proved to be critical in the development of Gandhi's strategy and the formation of the concept of satyagraha. It was not long after the Johannesburg meeting when Gandhi read Thoreau's Essay on Civil Disobedience, the same essay that would later influence King. The essay provided Gandhi with a means for articulating his concept for nonviolent resistance in English. Inspired by Thoreau's insistence on disobeying unjust policies, Gandhi spent the next seven years leading the struggle on behalf of the Indian minority in South Africa. This philosophy also influenced Gandhi's thinking about India, as expressed in Hind Swaraj (Indian Home Rule), a 1909 booklet outlining his early thoughts regarding Indian independence. Gandhi wrote that "violence was no remedy for India's ills” and that the country's civilization “required the use of a different and higher weapon for self-protection."

Blogger's comment: I wish all our differences could be settled in non-violent ways. I pray for a day when violence and war will be remembered no more. - Papa Joe