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September 11th, 2008.
Seven years. It's hard to believe it's already been seven years.
It's even harder to believe there hasn't been another successful attack on American soil in those seven years. Sadly, our "more tolerant" European friends have not had quite that level of success.
I remember that morning, waking up to a phone call from my mother, who said "Turn on the TV, quick...I think we're watching the start of World War Three." I remember watching in horror the scenes on the television of all that as going on. I remember trying (with mediocre success) to wash up, brush my teeth, and get dressed for work without leaving sight of the television.
I remember getting to "the Big Orange" (Home Depot) and hearing the announcement that there were fighter jets from the nearby Air Base patrolling the area, and that all major public venues (like malls and such) were closed for precautionary reasons. I remember the television in the breakroom being surrounded all day long by employees and the occasional customer who had asked if we had a TV they could "see the latest" on.
I remember being at work and seeing the replay of the people who were jumping out of the building in the vain attempt to save themselves. I remember us observing a moment of silence there at work (that lasted more than a minute), where everything was stopped -- from registers to forklifts, EVERYTHING -- so we could pray and remember what had just happened. I remember praying for the families affected, the churches in the area, for my family members who were still without Christ, and for my nation in general.
I remember spending all day praying, and making sure I was treating every customer at work and every person on the street with an extra measure of Christ's love and compassion. I remember approaching people more as a Christian who loves rather than an American who's a Christian.
And while I have heard many people (without thinking) talk about today as "Celebrating September 11th", I recognize it's not something we can "celebrate", but it is something we should remember.
Every year around this time, the Alex Jones sheepfold steps up their same old unsubstantiated rhetoric, further drawing people tired or "the war" into their self-defeating web of conspiracy and rendering them impotent in the calling in Christ. And every year, I remember being angry that people -- however well-intentioned -- continue to focus more on what in reality doesn't matter (i.e. who was behind the attacks) rather than recognize that who was really behind the attacks in one form or another -- the Enemy of all of our souls -- was and still is seeking to draw people away from God and towards his own web of deceit and destruction.
I remember back in the early 90's when Osama bin Laden was identified as the one trying to take out the supports of the World Trade Centers to cause their collapse. I remember, back then even, how angry people were and how appalled they were when he was allowed to go free, when Mr. Clinton didn't seem all that concerned with trying to bring him to real justice.
I remember other people remembering that in 2001, how angry they were when they thought about how different things would have been had the former President really gone after Osama the first time...and how if he had, there may not have been a second time.
The saddest part, however, is when I remember just how much so many Americans have forgotten.
I'm not at all saying we should live through each day with a perpetually morose mindset, or keeping ourselves "in the moment" all the time. I'm merely suggesting that if we are to really learn from the history of September 11th, we need to not forget (i.e. "remember") that we were, and are, in the crosshairs of Islamic extremists who have already completed the necessary "diplomatic requirements" that the faith proclaims must be taken care of before "the infidels" can be "legally" (according to the faith, anyways) destroyed.
I remember that I have Brothers and Sisters in Christ in "the sandboxes" taking the fight to the aggressors so that their families and friends here stateside don't have to see the fight unfold on their streets.
And I remember most of all that we're in the midst of a War that's already been won, that we're serving under the Commander in Chief Yeshua, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and that we must never forget that we have spiritual enemies (just as we do physical ones) that spend every moment planning and devising ways to either defeat us or distract us from what we're really supposed to be living for: Christ.
I remember.
Don't forget.
j† |
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