9/11 - A Decade Later

September 11, 2001.  We remember the moment we got the news.   American Airlines Flight 11 had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  It was 7:55 AM (CDT) in Central Missouri.  I had stopped at a convenience store near Whiteman AFB, en route to a Church & Ministry Committee meeting in Higginsville, MO.  In the store, off duty Air Force personnel were talking about getting back to the base--a plane had crashed in New York City.   Back on the road, I turned on the radio to listen to news. Another plane, United Airlines Flight 175, had crashed into the South Tower.  Soon, there were more reports of hijacked planes and crashes at the Pentagon and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  I phoned my wife at her work.  I got to the meeting where we watched the events unfold on the television.  There was shock.  We wept.  We prayed.

I remember a hastily-prepared prayer service at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in California, Missouri on the evening of September 11, 2001.  People shared their shock and sadness, their anger, and their fears.  I recall the voice that cautioned that we not rush to judgment and treat our own citizens as enemies.  I recall reading Psalm 46.  Life as we knew it was changed . . . forever.

It hardly seems that a decade should be past  already.  We have fought two wars, and are still fighting.  We have killed our enemies, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq.  We mourned the deaths of our sons and daughters as they served in those distant places.  We have strengthened our homeland security.  We have built detention centers at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.  We have viewed our Muslim brothers and sisters with suspicion and scorn.  We have condoned the use of torture as an interrogation tactic.  We have learned about the colors of terror levels. 

But what next?  What about the next decade . . . and the next?  I wonder how 9/11 will be remembered and commemorated on September 11, 2101.  What will they say of our terrible day?  What might we do now to shape the hope that will sustain generations yet to come? 

I am thankful that this anniversary comes on Sunday, the first day of the week, amid the celebration of Christ's resurrection.  Today, I will worship and remember.  I will pray.  I will hope in God who is with us.  Psalm 46 still steadies my heart and my hope, raising my courage and my compassion.

God is our refuge and strength,
  a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
   though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
   though its waters roar and foam,
   though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
   the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city;^* it shall not be moved;
   God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
   he utters his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord;
   see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
   he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
   he burns the shields with fire.
‘Be still, and know that I am God!
   I am exalted among the nations,
   I am exalted in the earth.’
The Lord of hosts is with us;
   the God of Jacob is our refuge.