I was together with a group of fellow pastors, discussing how we might find ways to impact our world, when my office manager ran into the room and said something like, "You really need to turn on the TV!" I took the group into the sanctuary and switched on the large screen and tuned the projector to the cable TV. Every channel was broadcasting the picture of a tower in New York city that an airplane had crashed into. A few moments later a second plane hit the second tower.
That day in September shook the nation, and it shook the church. Our sense of being far away from the terror in the world was suddenly shattered. Every airplane was suddenly a potential terrorist tool.
The next few days were spent in trying to comfort people, trying to find out of friends and loved ones on New Your and the Pentigon were OK, and for me, struggling to decide how I would address my congregation on Sunday.
That event has, in many ways changes how we look at our world.
As we come to the 10th anniversary of that day, it is important that we ask ourselves the tough questions. Where was God on thta day? Did what happened in any conflict with out worldview? Did we take advantage of the opportunity that this event brought to show the communities we lived in and the world we claimed to love what it means to "pray for those who hurt you" or to "love our enemies"?
Hopefully, yes. In many ways, probably the answer must be "no."
However it is not too late. It is never too late to show God's love, to offer forgiveness, to understand that God is great and loving and kind and present, even when life is terrible and unfair and outright bad.
We have had 10 years to practice this, now is probably a good time to put that practice into reality.
