REMEMBERING 9/11/2001

Can it be 25 years already?

I was a new missionary in Ecuador, having arrived here on April 24. On 9/11, I was housesitting for some friends who were in Germany. It was a lazy day for me, and I was watching Homicide: Life on the Streets. I know, not very spiritual. I was channel surfing during commercials when I saw the second tower hit and subsequently collapse. It was surreal to me and seemed like an action movie. But it was real, and 2,976 (the official count) people died that day and many since then due to various illnesses and health complications caused by the horrific attacks.

Reflections on that day bring us to consider the need for kindness and empathy for those who look, think, and act differently as well as compassion and care for those who hurt. Elisabeth Elliot, well acquainted with suffering and grief, said, "It's only in the cross that we can begin to harmonize this seeming contradiction between suffering and love." That's exactly what many people said following the tragedy of 9/11. Many people, from all walks of life, came together, reached out to strangers and neighbors, and showed the lovely fruits of unity.

We witnessed many courageous acts that day, for example, from the passengers of United flight 93, who stood up to the terrorist hijackers and died in the process. The heroes (Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick, and other) probably knew that death was near. Still, they fought against evil and said, "Let's roll!"

Life proves fragile, and we should seize each day to the fullest. John Wesley's words come to mind:

“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”

Doing good, living God's calling in my life daily: these are ways to seize the day. Finding the right balance in all of my activities: now that is something I need to make a priority. In closing, I share these photos from the camera of New York City Police Detective Greg Semendinger, recently published in USA Today.