How does one describe the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on America? Horrific. Dastardly. Cowardly. Cruel. People struggle to put their feelings into words, but language fails at times like this. How does one put into words the panic, the fear etched on faces? How does one describe the heartache communicated through cracking voices and flowing tears? Words are simply inadequate.
Most of us are angry. More than 90 percent of Americans want a military response to the terrorist acts. That will come in time. Our nation must be careful not to be goaded by national rage as hot as the fires that brought down the World Trade Center towers. Especially in crisis time, this nation must do what is morally right. As a nation and as citizens, we cannot descend into the moral abyss of our enemies.
A military response can be a moral response. But the response must be directed toward the perpetrators of this evil. Striking out to satisfy the desire for revenge is not moral.
Many of us are confused. Why the World Trade Center? It was not a military target. It had no military value. The towers were a civilian place manned by innocent people attempting to earn a living for their families in the marketplace of free commerce. It appears the targets were selected because they were an economic symbol of America. In the blind hatred of the perpetrators, the value of human life paled.
Some suggest the targets were chosen precisely because they promised catastrophic loss of life. The timing, the method, all designed to maximize losses and impact the American psyche. If so, the acts succeeded.
A few try to lay the mantle of religion across this nightmarish act. Such reasoning fails. No religion condones mass murder. This act is exactly opposite the teachings of Jesus when He said, “Love your enemies.” The national director of the American Muslim Public Affairs Council declared, “This goes beyond any religious legitimacy or justification. This is an act committed by a criminal and nothing any decent human being could reconcile with any religion.”
September 11 brought a new sense of vulnerability to America. Before that date we thought terrorism occurred in Tel Aviv, in Cairo, in Gaza, not in the United States. Now we know better. Terrorism happens in New York and Washington and Oklahoma City. It can happen anywhere. Any of us can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. That reality makes us feel exposed, like we are not fully dressed.
In the name of safety, calls are being made to circumscribe freedoms commonly taken for granted in this nation. Public safety is the first responsibility of government, and all of us want to be safe, whether on an airplane or a city street.
As Americans, we are quick to claim our “rights,” our “freedoms.” But there is nothing sacred about curbside check-in at an airport. Changes will come to improve public safety. Likely, many changes will come. One can only wonder when the desire for public safety will bump against essential liberties. Benjamin Franklin said, “Those who give up essential liberty to procure a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Still, we are scared, and no one can predict what one who is scared will do.
Amid these conflicting emotions, it is important to remember that God cares for us. He cares for the brokenhearted. He cares for the grieving. He cares for the wounded and hurting. He cares for the confused, the vulnerable, the scared. He cares about each one impacted by these terrorist acts. He cares for you and me.
In John 11:29 ff., Mary comes to Jesus. She falls at His feet overcome by grief at the death of her brother. The Bible says Jesus, looking at this hurting woman, was “troubled” and “moved in the spirit.” So moved was Jesus at the suffering of one whom He loved that the Bible says, “Jesus wept.”
Sometimes we may wonder where Jesus is when tragedy strikes. We may ask if God knows we are alive and if He cares. Mary’s story reminds us of where Jesus is in such times. He stands beside us sharing our sorrow and helping us carry our burdens.
Jesus said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” He promised, “I am with you always.” Whether it is a massive disaster like the events of Sept. 11 or a personal tragedy through which we pass one at a time, know God is present and God cares for you.
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