I remember where i was when JFK was shot....at home recovering from having my tonsils out. When Neil armstrong stepped on the moon...Sunday night, sitting at home, eating a tuna melt - Bonanza was interrrupted. When the Challenger exploded...in my first church office, the secretary called out and told us to look at the TV. 9-11...I was sitting in a seminar in Hickory, NC (just outside Charlotte)....the church secretary busted in the classroom and told us to check it out...I then drove home some 11 hours listening on the radio and stopping at truck stops to find out the latest news.
It is one of thos days you will never forget. I attempted to call friends of mine and make sure they were safe. Sadly I lost three friends in the WTC. As i drove home I kept thinking about how the church was to respond and what a pastor is supposed to do when this kind of thing happens. Whata was interesting was the following Sunday was a special evangelistic day we had planned - VIP Sunday. We really did not have to work hard to fill up the house, our chhurch was packed, as was all the churches. Now some seven years later, the pain, the upheaval and despair of those days that followed have become -- sadly-- a distant thought. I was thinking this morning....what should I remind others about concerning that time and what was important to us.
1. Pray was valued -- even in the public forum. Interestingly we did not invoke the excuse of "Separation of Church and State" if people wanted to pray. They prayed on the Capitol steps; public school; in the workplace; in Malls; everywhere. funny when we are desperate -- we will pray to God for help and no long can stop it.
2. Patriotism was vital -- America had been attacked. As its citizens, we were offended and desired pay back to whoever did this. Not to mention, we said -- either people stand with us or they are against us. There was no middle ground - you were proud to be an American or you were our enemy. How quickly we have backed off that rhetoric.
3. Politics was invisible -- there were no blue and red; dems or GOP; conservative or liberal. Even if people held to partisenship leanings-- they kept quiet. WE WERE AMERICANS...period! It was completely distasteful to blame anyone or try to use this for a self-serving agenda. Later it was...but not right away.
4. Payback was verocious - Americvans were united and forged in our heart that whoever and what ever did this --- would pay dearly. We identified the enemy - Islamic Extremeists - but we also finally started to speak the truth -- Islam's core tenets teach that all Christians and jews MUSt die...we were not fighting a country or a visible enemy, our enemy was invisible, resident in the hearts of those who held to such violent, angry doctrines.
5. Protection of the victims - We looked at the innocent targets and their families and were commited to care for them, aid them, assist their children and try to rebuild their broken world.
6. Praise the Victors - Police, firemen, emt, first responders....they are our heroes! A new level of respect rose within our country for these who serve us and put there lives on the line for us!
May we never forget!