“Thoughts on 9/11 Five Years Later”
by Bruce J.
Johnson
Our nation pauses today on the eve of the 5th
anniversary of 9/11, believed to be, understandably I suppose, more significant
than the four before it. 9/11 is one of
those moments, ONE OF THOSE MORNINGS, in history that we will always
remember--- where we were, what we doing, how we first heard about the attacks,
and how we felt and maybe even, how we reacted.
Sometime tomorrow we may be asked by someone:
“Where Were
You…?”
Peter’s Song:
“Where
Were You When the World Stopped Turning?”
Written by Alan Jackson
Where were you when the world stop turning on that September
day
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or working on some stage in
Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Rising against that blue sky
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry
Did you weep for the children who lost their dear loved ones
And pray for the ones who don't know
Did you rejoice for the people who walked from the rubble
And sob for the ones left below
Did you burst out in pride for the red, white and blue
And the heroes who died just doin' what they do
Did you look up to heaven for some kind of answer
And look at yourself and what really matters
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
Where were you when the world stop turning on that September
day
Teaching a class full of innocent children
Or driving down some cold interstate
Did you feel guilty 'cause you're a survivor
In a crowded room did you feel alone
Did you call up your mother and tell her you loved her
Did you dust off that Bible at home
Did you open your eyes, hope it never happened
And you close your eyes and not go to sleep
Did you notice the sunset the first time in ages
Or speak to some stranger on the street
Did you lay down at night and think of tomorrow
Go out and buy you a gun
Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watchin'
And turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns
Did you go to a church and hold hands with some strangers
Stand in line and give your own blood
Did you just stay home and cling tight to your family
Thank God you had somebody to love
I'm just a singer of simple songs
I'm not a real political man
I watch CNN but I'm not sure I could
Tell you the difference in Iraq and Iran
But I know Jesus and I talk to God
And I remember this from when I was young
Faith, hope and love are some good things He gave us
And the greatest is love
This is a time to pause
with a purpose, and fortunately for us, it is in worship that we do so. Let
there be no doubt about the context. Although there have been dramatic changes
in our lives, consequences of 9/11—one thing has remained:
We know Jesus and We talk to God
And we remember today and always
Faith, hope and love are some good things they gave us
And the greatest is love
But five years have
passed since the wake-up call of Tuesday morning, Sept. 11. On this five-year
anniversary, we take this time to remember and reflect upon those who perished,
to read their stories and the stories of those who continue to grieve the
losses. Today we remember and reflect on the heroism of those who responded,
many of whom can no longer tell their stories themselves. Their lungs no longer
function because of that day’s toxic cloud. We look back at the events that have happened since
and how they have affected our lives. We look back at where we were then--- not
only physically but spiritually and morally---who we were on that day and how
we lived to better understand who we are today and how we are living now.
We’re getting a lot of help---All forms of media seem
to be thriving.
ABC and Walt Disney Production is planning a
television broadcast tonight and tomorrow of 5 hours and $40 million of what
they are calling--- “a dramatic representation of “ The Path to 9/11.”--- a
very controversial docu-drama to say the least--- a whole lot of people are
riled up--- giving a charge to an already divided nation!
I got my copy of the Bucknell World and was not
surprised by one its articles: “Books for a Post-September 11 World”— listing
books written by Bucknell graduates and professors--- the first being by a
professor of mine F. David Martin—titled Facing Death, the other
by Phillip Roth, titled Everyman, a piece of fiction about an
ordinary man and post-September retirement colony refugee—trying to make sense
of his life at the time of death’s call.
Thursday’s New York Times featured what they called
an “Op Chart, Five Years of Consequence” borrowing the phrase from
President Bush, saying:
“It’s been five years since 9/11,
but it seems like a lifetime. Certainly, a lifetime’s worth of events for
America and the world--elections and insurgencies, hurricanes and tsunamis,
attacks and threats of attack—have unfolded with such speed that it can be hard
to sort through, or even recall, everything of consequence. The chart below is
an attempt, admittedly selective and incomplete, to survey the first five years
of our post-9/11 world—a world that is certainly new, though not always brave.” (NY Times,
These five years have seemed like a lifetime, haven’t
they?
Friday’s, as did yesterday’s N.Y.Times, followed up
with yet another feature- more anecdotal and personal:
“Echoes of 9/11 Define Life 5 Years
Later”
“The echoes of
Then, finally --- as they say—a
picture is worth a thousand words—there is this picture of a Muslim woman and
the wording beneath—
a simple scarf but meaning much more
than faith.
(NY
Times,
Who among us hasn’t had that experience?—
Pick an aspect of the national reflection---
Remembering those who died and those who grieve;
Those who were heroes and now are sick;
Thinking
critically on national security and what we have done and/or not done.
Rethinking the war and how best to
support and protect our troops and do what is right and best for the Iraqi
democracy.
And maybe
most important of all, what is the great challenge of our time for us as
persons—persons of faith. What must we remember this day on which we pause with
a purpose?
Today’s gospel lesson stands front and center in
response to that question. I often marvel at how certain lessons come up in
such a timely fashion.
In today’s two miracle stories from the Gospel of
Mark, the geography in verses 24 and 31 is as important as the miracles.
Geography here reveals theology- the former being the regions of
Yet, with the anonymous comes the prophetic when a
Syrophoenician gentile woman persists in seeking Jesus’ intervention--- this in
spite of everything that separated them.
Her ethnicity sets her apart from Jesus.
Her
religion sets her apart from Jesus.
Her gender sets her apart from
Jesus.
His
purpose for being there sets them apart.
On any one of these accounts, public contact and
conversation with Jesus would have brought censure for her and for him. But one
matter connected them---- the well being of a child…. first presented to Jesus
by a desperate Mom. Quite uncharacteristically, Jesus at first seems locked up
in Jewish tradition and law--- a surprise given what we read last week about
the Pharisees questioning Jesus about why his disciples didn’t observe the
ancient traditions of the elders when it came to washing their hands, pots and
pans before eating. WE are stunned when we hear him tell the woman that he
can’t help her, saying that the grace he had to give was just for what he
understood to be God’s covenant people, even embarrassing himself somewhat by
referring to her kind as “dogs.”
Man, I wonder if he wanted that reference back right
after he said it!!!
Not to be put down, put off or put out, this
desperate mom comes back with her own zinger--- recreating a scene Jesus must
have seen many times. Remember, this is before the days of Purina, Alpo and
IAMS. Like we do sometimes, they fed their pets a few morsels from the diner
table!
“Sir, even the dogs under the table
eat the children’s crumbs.”
That did it!
Jesus was blown away by her expansive understanding of God’s grace. And you know what is so interesting about
today’s lesson as compared to—say, the one in Matthew. Mark plays it down with
Jesus saying:
“For saying that—you may go--- the
demon has left your daughter.”
Listen to how Matthew recalls it:
“O woman, Great is your faith! Be it
done for you as you desire!”
Matthew 15: 28
Maybe Matthew, being the later Gospel, had more time
to process the account of the desperate gentile mom and the extraordinary
message in it! We see the same understanding in his account of the Sermon on
the Mount. Remember?
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you. Love your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of
God; for he makes the sun rise on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Matthew 5: 43-45
That’s what God’s grace is all about.
In the sixteenth century, Martin Luther observed that
sin begins when we “curve in upon ourselves.” Discrimination and the ‘isms’
that sometime mark our lives and hate itself is a consummate kind of turning
inward and denying the reality and sacredness of another or of whole groups of
people. Hate is an
ultimate kind of turning inward, of refusing to see anything but my own little
distorted universe. And so often, religious certitude and hatred are twins,
working together in persons and in communities to corrupt and destroy.
Though not mentioned
on the Times’ OP- Chart, this too is a possible consequence of 9/11—
Were we not to
remember Jesus and talk to God?
Jesus calls us to ‘curve out’ and live as the
children of God. I’ve mentioned before, maybe more than once the book “Child of
Our Time” by the Spaniard Castillo… the time being during the Spanish civil war
and rise of the Nazis. I don’t have time to tell His story but please allow me
to share the best quote from the book:
“Leave hate to those too weak to
love.”
That’s what Jesus taught too. To love our neighbors
and our enemies, to do good to those who are with and against us and to
forgive, and forgive and forgive…
Faith hope and love are some things that he gave…And
the greatest is LOVE.