Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes, and we reach for the stars.” (The West Wing)
I wonder how many this past weekend paused to remember.
Saturday I spent a good bit of the morning watching the ceremonies remembering the lives lost in the horrific cowardly attacks on our nation on September 11, 2001. Ceremonies held at Ground Zero in New York City, at the Pentagon and upon the hallowed grounds at Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
But remembrances around our nation of that tragic day on September 11, 2001 seemed to be fewer than those which occurred in the season which followed the attacks of September 11.
I wonder if complacency and apathy have begun to rule the day. And, of course, neither of those is worthy of this great nation and the people we lost that day.
Because on that day, twenty years ago, the evil attacks on our land did, in fact, occur.
And today there are those beyond our borders who desire to attack us again.
However, attacks from outside are not the only concern—as they also seem to be occurring from within our institutions of government and education, aimed at undoing the very foundations and fabric of our country.
With rhetoric and dissension lessening, and seeking to change and destroy who we are as a nation.
We did not seek, nor did we deserve the attacks on our freedoms or way of life on September 11, 2001. America may have lost something on that Tuesday, September 11, 2001, but it will never lose the heroic heritage of those who have gone before, and the God in whom we have trusted since our beginnings 245 years ago.
And in moments like this past weekend, and in the days ahead, the true measure of our nation’s strength—and each one of us individually and aggregately—will be demonstrated in how we rise again out of the troubles of the day into all we were meant to be by our Creator.
We have done this before. Like we began to do as a nation on September 12, 2001, the day after the attacks, and beyond—unified together.
It’s time to rise again.
In the midst of rhetoric and actions of today which seek to change, lessen and destroy who we are as a nation and people—it’s time to rise again.
As we remember all those who lost their lives that day in that horrific act of cowardice and war, and all those others who gave their lives that day in noble acts of courage—it’s time to rise again.
For all those who have stood in the gap for us throughout our history, and for this great land—it’s time to rise again.
Believing anew in all we are, while striving to be the best we can be as a people, for all people, and our nation.
It’s time to remember.
It’s time to rise again.
In his remarks at the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday, September 14, 2001, the late Reverend Billy Graham called us forth then, and forever when he said…
“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.”
This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard.
We always have.
We will achieve what is great.
We always have.
This is a time for American heroes, and we will reach for the stars.
And as we do—unified together once again—we will touch the face of God.
In His Name–Scott
