We Remember!

Living in a time when a great cataclysmic event takes place usually etches in the mind exactly where you were and what you were doing when you heard about the event itself. Today we pause to recall the terrorist attack against our country which occurred six years ago on September 11, 2001. Many in the buildings that made up the Word Trade Center Complex are not around to remember where they were when this horrific attack took place. They are joined by others who gave their lives in trying to rescue and save those who were in those buildings.

I was at work that morning. I happened to be listening to the BBC feed on FM radio whenever the announcer broke in and said there had been an airplane crash into the WTC. Shortly after the first announcement there was the report of a second crash. I left my workstation and went into the other office where we could watch the news on television. We all stood dazed as the events began to unfold in New York City.

I know my grandparents remembered exactly where they were whenever they heard about Pearl Harbor. I can remember the day President Kennedy was shot how we were all in our high school classes and suddenly the intercom began playing a Dallas, Texas radio feed. I was in a shop class and it took us a few minutes to figure out what was going on. The president of the United States had been shot in his motorcade in Dallas. It was an unforgettable moment.

Others no doubt remember the receiving of unexpected news about the loss of a loved one. I can remember receiving a call from my baby sister’s husband calling us from the West Coast and telling us that they had just come from all day at the doctors and instead of the minor medical procedure that had been planned, she at age twenty five had just been diagnosed with fast moving, fatal leukemia. I stood straight up in the bed.

There’s also many wonderful days that come to mind like our wedding day, the birth of our children, and other special events that we love to relive in our thoughts. I’m so thankful for the wonderful memories that are also a part of our sojourn here.

But more than anything else on this day of remembrance of this significant day in our history, and as we think on other days that are memorable to us, in trying to gain some context for life here on this planet with all of its ups and downs, I kept being reminded as I wrote this blog of this Old Testament passage from Jeremiah chapter 9:

23) Thus says the LORD:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24) But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD..

Therefore, on this day when so many will be grieving, let those of us who know God and have a relationship with Him through His provision of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, pause to pray for all who are hurting, and to seek the peace that only God and God alone can provide. More later……………..