Remembering Sept. 11, 2001

Like most, I remember exactly where I was the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. I was with my family and some friends while my father-in-law was undergoing surgery. He went under anesthesia, knowing the world in one way, waking to something completely different.

In Joshua 4, the people are crossing the Jordan River. They are leaving one side, crossing into another. While crossing the river, Joshua instructed the tribes to select 12 men who would choose one stone each to construct a memorial so future generations would know where they crossed on dry ground (Josh 4:21.) The future is always forged by remembering the past. I want to remember Sept. 11, 2001, in three ways.

First, I want to remember the lives that were taken. Thousands of people were killed on 9/11. Each of them had a family. Friends. Stories of their own. Their names will always be connected to the tragedy.

Second, I want to remember the sacrifices made. First responders who ran into the dangers. Men and women who gave of themselves to care for another. Those who enlisted in the military with the heart to bring those who orchestrated the disaster to justice. Countless lives were changed on 9/11 from the sacrifices of many.

Third, I want to remember the costs we continue to endure. Those first responders and others who have been diagnosed with cancers. Those children who were forced to grow up without their parents coming home. Those spouses who still feel the void. The continual military guard against terrorism. The screening I endure at the airport is a minor inconvenience compared to the ongoing costs.

My children do not know the feeling of watching the towers fall. For them, Sept. 11, 2001, was a day in history. A day they talk about at school. A day they observe. They will not know the feeling of fear, helplessness, confusion, and unity that swept across our nation that day and the months that followed. I pray they never experience an event like 9/11.

Many generations beyond Joshua's days looked at those stones and remembered. We crossed from one side to another. We experienced the Lord's intervention causing the water to stop and the ground to dry so we could cross. We remember, we were once a people in the wilderness, now we are a people in the promise. Remembering makes us pause to reflect on who we once were and who we are now by God's grace.