September 11, 2004
Dear Holy Redeemer:
Today is the 3rd anniversary of the demise of the World Trade Center. We certainly remember those who died on that day - both those Americans and those non-Americans who were there, but also those who were on hijacked airplanes that crashed elsewhere and those who were living under the twin towers (the unnamed and uncounted homeless who are so rarely mentioned). We mourn with all families that lost loved ones on that day.
Even as we remember and mourn, however, it must be said that those who would use this tragedy for anything beyond the cataclysm that it was need to be called to task. We can only defeat the terrorism that caused this disaster by moving back toward normalcy (as difficult as that may seem to be). We play into their hands when we continue to use the pictures and the events of September 11, 2001 to frighten the people of this country or to build walls between ourselves and others.
Why did this happen? No one knows, but perhaps the poet W. H. Auden came closest to explaining when he wrote:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return
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On this day we want to commemorate what took place - remembering all of those who died on that day and the families that will never be the same. But, we also want to ask: "What have we learned in the past three years?"
1. The world is not a safe place. Guess what? It never has been! In the past we have been beset by any other number of "isms" - terrorism is simply the latest We have thought that all of them threatened us. What is different now is that we have had bloodshed within the territorial boundaries of the United States. With the exception of the wars of independence in our early history, the civil war, and a few interior bombings, this has never been the case. We have always managed to "keep the bloodshed over there" and to keep the soil of our country relatively unstained. But not so this time! This attack brought us into the family of nations that understand loss of life up close and personal. We are not different from Northern Ireland, or Sierra Leone, or the Middle East, or the Sudan, or anywhere else. It is not safe here either, and we must learn to live with it (as everyone else in the world has done long ago).
2. The United States has not received a special status from God. We might try to declare it still, but the lie has been put to our "special nation" status. There is no "God-wall" built around the perimeter of the United States protecting us from the bloodshed and the uncertainty of life that has affected every other nation. God loves all of creation, and is seemingly unaware of the boundaries that we have set down on maps that delineate what land belongs to us and what land belongs to them. If there is a blessing to be celebrated, it is the celebration of the blessings that God has showered upon all humanity and all of creation - the ability that we have to love one another, if we put our differences aside and concentrate on our similarities.
3. We can move beyond this. But, it will take a lot of determination to do so. We cannot move forward if we continue to live in a state of fear - when we live our lives in that manner, the terrorists win. We cannot move forward if we continue to act out of arrogance - when we act arrogantly we are the best recruiters that the terrorists have. We cannot move forward if we continue to try to enforce our will upon the world around us - when we act unilaterally and preemptively we only play into the hands of those who would be terrorists.
In honor of those who died, all of those who died, we must begin to break down the walls that divide. We must reach out to those who would be enemies, and seek to become friends. We must seek avenues of understanding, pathways of peace, seas of love. To do any less is to deny our status as people of God.
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It is God's amazing grace that will see us through this time, as it has seen us through all times. Thus it is that as we remember those who have died, as we begin to move forward, we do so by celebrating God's "Amazing Grace." Have a blessed worship on this day - and walk out into God's world devoid of fear and ready to embrace a different future.
With Much Love,
Pastor John
