Well, today is 'that' anniversary...so I thought I'd ramble about it a bit.
I still remember the details of the morning the planes crashed into the two towers, as I assume most people do. I was on my way to work and heard bits and pieces on the radio some time after the first plane hit. When I got to work I stood in the lobby and watched with many other building occupants as several side-by-side large screen tvs displayed the events over and over from different angles on different stations all in real time. Everyone was so quiet. I got to my office on the 16th floor and pressed my face to the glass of my floor to ceiling windows and wondered what would have to go through my mind to jump, as I'd heard and seen so many do that morning from almost a hundred floors higher. I thought about all the families. What if it had been my family? Even the news anchors were barely holding it together.
I remember the days that followed, the surge of pride Americans had for our country. I remember the general pop being in support of the war. I remember Bush having a high popularity rating (remember that?) I remember 'Freedom fries' (btw, Dairy Palace in Canton still has them labeled like that on their menu). I remember flags on every business, in front yards, attached to cars. I remember what it was like to look at people of middle-eastern descent differently. Even though I knew it was wrong, I think, I, like most people, felt betrayed and it felt easy, justified even, to, even internally, point the finger somewhere.
I know how much that single act changed everything, the way we felt safe and somewhat indestructible, the way it hit our economy, and here 7 years later we still feel it's affects. The way we feel about war, about our leadership, about how little we really used to care about places and cultures outside our nation and now how guilty we feel as we pay the price for being so naive and self-centered.
Throughout all of this questions have been raised. How can God do this to us? One thing I've learned is that God didn't DO this. Allow it, maybe. But all things, ALL things can be given to God to handle or position or alter or change or affect for His glory. I believe He cried that day, just like the day he allowed his son to suffer and die in agony. He allowed it to save us. Even though we may not understand his ways, it is in our best interest, maybe not here in this place...but then, maybe so. One action begets many, many more and lives are changed, eternally.
It's so difficult with our finite minds to process pain and see beyond the right now, the all-about-us, even if we have the best intentions. But God is not a God of confusion or fear, he is a God of peace and mercy, even if the decisions and free will of the world seem to stand in it's way, God prevails.
I like that he takes that responsibility. I find comfort that if I give it over to him, he has my best interests in mind. When things like this happen, or when they hit closer to home with family members passing, grief, sickness, divorce, etc., that He is still there in the midst of it, ready to turn it all around for His glory, should we be so brave to trust him with it.
Maybe, on this anniversary, instead of blaming our leadership, we should make ourselves knowledgeable about the issues and candidates. Maybe instead of spending our time boycotting fast food titles, we should find the time to fervently pray for change. Maybe instead of sitting ignorant and blind to what's going on outside our cozy picket fences and plush suburban lives, we should investigate the economies, cultures and differences of the world outside ours and see what we can do to help.
Maybe on this anniversary, we should come together and hang His flag above our doorsteps.
Verse to Ponder: Proverbs 30:5 (NKJV) For every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
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