Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.”
Psalm 46: 1-3 (ESV)“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?”
Luke 9: 23-25 (NLT))
She reached me by phone just a few minutes after 8:46 am. Her voice was faint, quiet, uncertain, as she began—
“A plane has crashed into one of the Towers of the World Trade Center…”
She wanted me to know. We prayed together.
Minutes later my cell phone rang again.
I picked it up to hear Lynda’s trembling voice share with me—
“A second…a second plane…has hit the south Tower of the World Trade Center…” We cried and prayed again.
And then a plane crashed into the Pentagon. And another crashed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
I hope we will pause individually and as a Nation, not just this week but always, to remember the evil of those attacks on our homeland.
We might wonder at times, as we look around, if complacency and apathy have settled into the memories of some of those around us, or those leading us, or those who are to teach our children.
Where we may recall the moment, or, in the case of younger generations to have heard of the event, but where we do not remember deep within the evil which occurred on that day of September 11, 2001.
Remember so deep, that we are prepared to stand arm-in-arm against the entry of any other evil entering our Nation or our lives.
Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that— “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”
Again, not just this week, but every day is a time to remember.
To never forget. To always remember.
Because as Winston Churchill reminds us— “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.”
And when we do not remember the evil moments of history, we will fail to protect our Nation, families, and friends against that evil entering, or re-entering, our Nation. Evil jeopardizing the safety, security, and health of our families and all those others we hold dear.
For example, when we fail to remember the history of the tentacles of evil in WW II and the creep of the Nazi “Final Solution” into our Nation and world, it will return. As it is now, showing its face in the rising antisemitic movements in our cities and streets, leaders, and want-to-be leaders, and on college campuses across the Nation.
We see it in the beliefs and symbols of that Nazi evil being adopted and allowed in places where, as a Nation, we would least expect its evil face and marks to be.
So where do we turn to find the wisdom to remember, and the strength to stand for right and against evil and all who would harm all we love. We will find it in God’s Word, and as an example, in the scripture passages above.
And we will find it in these remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday, September 14, 2001, from the late Reverend Billy Graham as he reminded us—
“Underneath the debris is a foundation that was not destroyed. Now we have a choice: Whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation, or whether we choose to become stronger through all of this struggle to rebuild on a solid foundation. And I believe that we are in the process of starting to rebuild the foundation. That foundation is our trust in God.”
And with that reminder, the call on our lives is to never forget.
To always remember. To honor all those who were lost in those moments, and others who have throughout our history have stood in the gap for us and stood for right.
And also now, for each of us to forever stand together with God for right, for each other, and for our Nation.
In His Name–Scott
Be blessed as you watch and listen to this video arrangement by Michael W. Smith of his song— “There She Stands.”
