The Weekly Fare . . . September 11, 2003

Finding September 11

Has it been two years? Seven Hundred Thirty days since we were violently smacked out of our imperfect dream into a nightmare that deepened and deepened as the day grew long?

Hardly seems real anymore does it?

Maybe to some of us it never did.

The events of September 11 have since been compared to "one of those events you remember where you were" - like Pearl Harbor or the assassination of JFK. But it seems to me that those events, horrific as they were, don't quite compare to the horror and outrage of September 11. There was something about the cold, calculating use of innocents in the slaughter of thousands of others in such a cataclysmic and unimaginable fashion that separates that day from any other. Hopefully it will remain alone in its ability to overwhelm, to sadden, to crush.

Last week I watched a PBS documentary on the World Trade Center that concluded with a full hour of detailed coverage on the events of that day. As I watched and the pit in my stomach grew deeper I realized that not much has changed in the ability of the images to evoke the same feelings of nausea and hopelessness. It surprised me really. I expected those feelings to be there but not so close to the level they were that very morning.

But collectively the images seem to have lost their ability to motivate and stir us to become something different from what we were or are now. There are less and fewer displays of patriotism - less and less talk of coming together as a people - less and less public demonstrations of everyday kindness for others that seemed so prevalent in those early days.

It is predictable really. Time bears away the immediacy of events, and their effects upon us diminish. Otherwise, we would be overwhelmed as individuals and a society. But we must remember - we must internalize the lessons and feelings from such events in a way that continues to inform and direct and allows "the good" to well up and offer new life.

A recent article produced by the youth writers for the Roanoke Times on their "Edge Page" indicated that this isn't the case for many from that generation. Entitled "Defining a generation? Maybe not," it presupposed that for many teens September 11 just wasn't that big a deal.

When questioned one local student responded, "When it first happened, I didn't really care, because I didn't know much about it . . . It hasn't affected me, really."

Another remarked, "At the time, everyone was very patriotic and really cared . . . After two years, a lot of us have forgotten."

Maybe these responses are in part a reflection of a desire to not have one's generation defined by such a horrific event, but I can't help but think that many of us, young and old, have simply slipped back into the make-believe comfort of our Hollywood inspired skin.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest a possibility that many of you might not subscribe to. But if it brings you pause to question then I suppose I've done at least part of my job. So consider for a moment that God allowed such an event for a particular purpose.

If so, Why? What could possibly, "be in it for us?" And how are his purposes being carried out through the reality of a passive will that so utterly and openly allows for such suffering? Is this a "shot over the bow" as many have construed it to be, in order that we might better consider our lives and the world we have created?

If so, we seem to be failing miserably.

It is my belief that God can and does perform miracles - little ones in the course of the every day and big one's that save lives and dreams for the benefit of all his people over time. But one thing is for certain, he chose not to perform one on this particular day, at least in a fashion that would preclude the event itself from happening. And there are some who would say that fact alone might tell us a lot:

That maybe we're still a long way from getting it right.

That maybe we are in deeper peril than we imagine - so far beyond understanding as to be dangerously out of reach.

That maybe we better pull up and take a much deeper look at ourselves both individually and collectively.

But while I believe all of those statements accurately reflect our human condition, I don't believe for a moment that God actively willed the events of that sad and lost day, anymore than I believe that he willed the holocaust or any other amount of suffering in this world.

But I do believe he has great hopes for our ability to become something better through it - that the compassion and love that came in response will never be lost as we begin to turn from the immediate care of the victims (all of us) to the promise and the glory that the future can hold.

As the images and events themselves fade and turn gray like some crackling, speckled newsreel, I hope we take that knowledge permanently to heart. That as we grow and learn and evolve, the words "Peace on earth and goodwill toward men" might not be heard so much as a dream but as the unchangeable reality for us all.

As God most certainly wills it - one day it shall be so.