9/11 Remembered
10 years ago I was living in Tustin, California. I just woke up, turned on the television to footage of smoke billowing out of the World Trade Center twin towers in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. More news flashes came only to reveal another plane had crashed into the Pentagon. It was certainly an unspeakable shocking and mystifying moments when you just do not have words to describe what is going on in your head. As the day went on, subsequent news reports revealed the crashing planes were part of an attack by radical militant Islamic extremist.
The world had changed overnight, and nothing was the same ever since. It seems that the entire world spent the entire first decade of the twenty first century coming to grips with that event one way or another. Some mourned the loss of loved ones who were actual victims of the attack. Others found relief in hearing how a loved one escaped harm’s way on that dreadful morning. Wars came, governments toppled, and reconstruction continues.
Making sense of the mess is no easy thing. I think we can know that eventually the music fades, the dance is over, the lights turn off, and void of darkness engulfs everyone. The senseless loss of life on 9/11 and all the events surround that moment are indeed tragic. They remind us of our own mortality, that life is fragile, and that we all face the same fate. When the Roman troops of Pilate slaughtered Jewish pilgrims, the Lord said, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Life in a sinful and fallen world ends in death. There is, however, an afterlife, and a life after the afterlife. The present world will eventually give way to the future. Christ shall come again, the dead shall rise, and the final judgment will take place. The old world shall pass away, all things shall be renewed. It is for this reason we are all called to repent, and settle accounts with our Maker.
The world had changed overnight, and nothing was the same ever since. It seems that the entire world spent the entire first decade of the twenty first century coming to grips with that event one way or another. Some mourned the loss of loved ones who were actual victims of the attack. Others found relief in hearing how a loved one escaped harm’s way on that dreadful morning. Wars came, governments toppled, and reconstruction continues.
Making sense of the mess is no easy thing. I think we can know that eventually the music fades, the dance is over, the lights turn off, and void of darkness engulfs everyone. The senseless loss of life on 9/11 and all the events surround that moment are indeed tragic. They remind us of our own mortality, that life is fragile, and that we all face the same fate. When the Roman troops of Pilate slaughtered Jewish pilgrims, the Lord said, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Life in a sinful and fallen world ends in death. There is, however, an afterlife, and a life after the afterlife. The present world will eventually give way to the future. Christ shall come again, the dead shall rise, and the final judgment will take place. The old world shall pass away, all things shall be renewed. It is for this reason we are all called to repent, and settle accounts with our Maker.
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