The images are burned deep in the psyche of Americans. Planes deliberately flying into buildings. Fireball explosions. Crumbling buildings. Death falling from the sky. Frantic, disbelieving chaos. How can one forget this tragedy?
A year later many questions remain unanswered. People still ask Why? What does it mean? Where do we go from here? What should we learn from Sept. 11, 2001? The answers are all personal. None are complete. What follows are 10 lessons this writer believes that awful episode teaches. The lessons are not in order of importance.
1. Evil is real. Before Sept. 11, some argued that all values are relative, that there are no absolutes in life. That position was stamped false by the blood of those who died as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a fourth plane that never reached its target.
Evil was the word used by practically all the commentators who spoke about the events of Sept. 11. The terrorist attacks were mean. They were hard. They were self-centered. They were unmoved by the fate of others. As Hitler came to symbolize evil in the last century, so the terrorist attacks on innocent civilians now embody that concept.
Christians know evil is real. The Bible calls it sin. If anyone doubted evil’s existence before 9/11, they doubt it no longer.
2. The impossible can happen. The Titanic was not supposed to sink, but it did. The World Trade Center, with 25 percent of the world’s financial firms located there, was supposed to be too important to be threatened. The United States was supposed to be safe from foreign attack.
But the Trade Center towers toppled. The heart of the nation’s military control was attacked. The world’s only superpower found itself the vulnerable victim of a vengeful vagabond and his henchmen. What no nation in the world dared attempt, a renegade band of desperate people did.
The impossible can happen to individuals, to business, to governments. None is too important to ward off harm, even from unexpected sources.
3. We need each other. Stories of individual heroism abound from Sept. 11. Many live today because strangers risked their own safety to help them. Some died helping others.
In the aftermath, Americans responded to the needs of victims in countless ways. Volunteers, including many from Alabama, even cleaned apartments and buildings so New Yorkers could move back into their homes and businesses.
Sept. 11 showed that it is not enough to be concerned about ourselves. We must also be concerned about one another. As John Donne wrote, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Jesus said the same thing in clearer words when He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
4. It is hard to hold on to the important. The terrorist attacks forced Americans to face some of life’s ultimate questions. For direction, Americans turned to the church. Spontaneously, people gathered for prayer vigils and candlelight services. Church attendance went up about 25 percent, pollsters say. Mass media pulled its advertising and gave unprecedented coverage to religion.
But as days turned into weeks, the normal re-emerged. Religion again became unwelcome in the public square. Instead of urging people to pray, the media urged people to buy. Instead of asking questions about relationships, purpose and destiny, society returned to asking questions about the economy.
Someone once said, “The urgent gets in the way of the essential.” How true. The urgent business of living life often gets in the way of dealing with the essentials of life. Jesus called the man who was more concerned with his barns than with his soul a “fool.” One can only wonder what Jesus might say to America today.
5. America is part of the world. The terrorist attacks shattered more than steel and glass. They shattered the myth that the United States was protected from the problems common to the rest of the world.
The myth held that America’s uniqueness in military power and economic strength made it immune to most world concerns. When problems did arise, they could be dealt with when the United States was ready to deal with them. No more.
Terrorism changed more than airport security. It impacts the way we live, where we travel, how we view others. Terrorism changed our culture. America is unique among the nations, but the world’s problems are now America’s problems in a new way. As individuals are not “islands entire to themselves,” neither are nations. Not even ours.
6. All religions are not alike. Before Sept. 11, few Americans knew much about Islam. Now books about Islam are among the nation’s best sellers. We are learning that Islam is a religion of works. One is saved by performing certain deeds. Dying in a “holy war” is a deed which guarantees one goes to paradise, the Koran teaches.
Christianity is about grace, God’s grace to a repentant heart. Jesus did the only work necessary for salvation when He paid the price for sin on Calvary’s cross. Now, all who believe in Him receive from God the blessed gift of forgiveness of sin.
Baptists generally understand that Christianity is an exclusive religion. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life.” We believe it. That does not make Christians any better than anyone else. It means we offer this truth to others who, like ourselves, are free to receive it or reject it. However, the decision does have eternal consequences.
7. Growth comes in the midst of pain. From personal experience I have learned that pain can open one to change. What is true for individuals can be true for a nation. In a way, the nation has experienced a collective grief. We grieved for the dead: The latest number is 3,031, though a firm number is not known. We grieve all the losses associated with the terrorist attack.
But grief can open the nation to change. Priorities can be re-examined. Relationships changed. The nation’s understanding of itself can be altered. Pain can move a whole people toward tolerance and understanding.
Living in pain is hard. Old things have passed away. New things are not yet clear. It is as if one “sees through a glass darkly.” But change and growth can come when we open our hearts.
8. Hate is not the answer. Hate drove the hi-jackers and those behind them. Hate drives suicide bombers. Hate sometimes drives government policies. But hate begets hate. The demons just multiply. They are never driven out.
Hate is the easy answer. One can hate bin Laden, Hussein or others but hate is not of God. Jesus taught that Christians should love their enemies. Hate is easy but it is wrong. Love is sometimes hard but it is right.
9. Life is fragile, so be prepared. Those who worked at the World Trade Center could not imagine what awaited them that day, not in their worst nightmares. Life has a way of surprising us.
For most, death comes as a surprise, at a time we least expect. There may not be time to prepare to face God, or say goodbye to loved ones or share those precious “thank yous” with friends.
Life is fragile. We have no promise of tomorrow. Death is certain unless our Lord returns. Be wise. Be prepared.
10. God does not fail. Some survivors of Sept. 11 call their escapes from death “miracles” and praise God for their safety. Some family members of those who died that day tell of the unspeakable strength God gives in the midst of tragedy. They, too, praise God. God did not fail those who died. He did not love those who escaped any more than those who did not. Evil is real. Evil is strong. Evil claims its toll. It did Sept. 11. But evil cannot win.
God moves into the midst of chaos and brings order. He shares Himself in times of tears as well as times of joy. God’s mercy and kindness do not depend on human conditions such as life or death, health or sickness. God is always good. God is always there with His children. God does not fail.
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