In May 2001, Liz and I were living in New Jersey. Some friends of ours wanted to take us on a dinner cruise in the New York harbor. We arrived early enough to walk along the water and admire the skyline of New York City. They snapped a picture of us in front of the Twin Towers. That picture still sits on our mantle to this day. It reminds us how quickly life can change, how uncertain the future can be, how never to take one day for granted.
Because four months later those Twin Towers would be gone and our world would never be the same.
I remember September 11, 2001.
I can almost relive its every moment. Sitting in a church staff meeting talking about my own personal woes (I was actually in traffic court the night before), when suddenly a lady in our church interrupted our meeting with the words I will never forget…
“Pray for New York! There are planes flying into buildings!”
How do you even begin to interpret that statement?
We ended our staff meeting early and found a TV. We turned it on and sat mesmerized at the screen. We could not process what we were seeing. It made no sense. It seemed surreal. Was this literally happening in a city 40 miles from where we were sitting? When we went outside, we could see the smoke plume of burning buildings beginning to form in the sky.
Yes, it was very real…and very shocking.
The next few hours were spent alternating between the TV and the phones. We were calling people in our church, many who worked in New York City or had relatives that did, trying to find out what was going on…trying to see if anyone that we knew was in those buildings.
No one in our church died that day. One person who worked in the Twin Towers was late for work, stuck on a bus in the Lincoln Tunnel. He would never complain about traffic jams again.
But people that people knew, some very closely, did die that day.
Over 3000 people. And then when the plane crashed into the Pentagon and one in the fields of Pennsylvania, we knew that this was an act of terrorism. An act of war.
Life would never be the same.
At that very moment, my wife was eight months pregnant with our third child. Fear gripped me. Uncertainty. Panic. What kind of world would my unborn child grow up in? What kind of world would all of my children grow up in? Was this the end of our nation as we know it?
I didn’t want our lives to change. I didn’t want our nation to fall. It is amazing how you can easily forget about your daily blessings until they are threatened.
We are blessed every day. And, unfortunately, we are forgetful every day.
We spend more time griping than being grateful.
That day I was grateful for every blessing that I had.
I took nothing for granted.
Neither did millions of others in our nation.
For a limited time in my lifetime, I sensed a national unity that I had never sensed before. We were in this together. We gathered in prayer. We talked with our neighbors. We put out an American flag. We volunteered to go to the city and help clean up. We praised God for our freedom and our blessings. We remembered what truly made our nation great.
For a brief moment, political differences were put aside. We were Americans first and foremost. We loved our nation and we prayed for its protection, renewal, and healing.
Now, 25 years later, I sit here and still wonder where we are going as a nation. What does the future hold? Will our nation survive? What kind of world will my boys, their wives, and any future grandchildren grow up in?
Fear can hit. Uncertainty. Panic. Discouragement.
Our world has changed…and not for the better. Any sense of national unity has evaporated. Partisan, political differences are more heated than ever. Few talk to their neighbors. Few thank God for the remarkable blessings of this nation. Some even hate our nation and want to see it dismantled.
The very forces that sought to destroy us on 9/11 now seem to be embraced.
How do we live in such a world? What do we do?
I come back to Scripture. I really have no other place to turn.
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A promise to Israel at the dedication of the temple in 950 BC.
But I think an abiding principle and promise to us as well.
What can we do when our nation is divided? In decline? In distress?
We can yell at the other side. We can blame every politician and person we do not like. We can curse the darkness.
Or we can humble ourselves. Get on our knees. Seek God’s face. And repent of our own selfishness, bitterness, divisiveness, and stubbornness.
It’s funny, and sad, that we would rather complain and get angry about the things that we cannot change than humble ourselves and change the things that we can change.
Love God. Love your neighbor.
It doesn’t get any simpler than this.
And never forget.
Never forget your blessings. Never forget to say “I love you.” Never forget to pray for this nation. Never forget to thank God for freedom. Never forget to take each day as a gift.
Never forget 9/11.
