Reflections on 9/11 – 9 years on

9 September 2001 – the day the world changed….. or did it?

There is no doubt that the events of that day cast a shadow over the global community. Relationships between nations are often defined in the light of the perceived forces at work in the events of that day. For me personally there is a particular poignancy in the memory. I had just returned from a Scripture Union International Conference with representatives from all over the world. Worshipping with people from many nations was a reminder that God’s family is global and multi-cultural – not English or British not even Western.

So I watched the events unfold that afternoon (morning in the US) with a different perspoective – there were people staying with me who were a reminder of a previous cold war era – guests from the former Soviet Union and I knew people travelling back to North America. It was hard to believe what we were watching – it almost seemed like a movie rether than real life. It was strangely gripping but it was also horrifying – we watched people die.

Maybe on reflection the media dimension was one of the changes I was unaware of and yet seems really obvious now. In a ‘Big Brother’ world, the global events were watched on TV by millions. The global community was connected in a way that we hadn’t really understood. The place of the media in both reflecting and shaping us was illustrated in a unique way on that day.

In recent events that day has been in the headlines because some people simply want to interpret them in ways that divide people along simple religious lines – I can’t agree in such a simplistic analysis. I wasn’t personally affected directly by the events so don’t want to speak for those who were. However I do know that God calls those of us who are Christians to live lives that demonstrate his character – to shine as his lights in the dark world. I am sure that means caring for all of of humanity regardless of their background, nationality, social status or creed. I simply can’t label thoe who disagree with me as evil – whatever they do.

So how should I respond? When asked by the teacher of the law, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus refers him to the law itself and the teacher replies. The first commandement is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul, mind and strength. the second is like it ‘Love your neighbour as yourself”

That seems like a good place to start – I’ll let you know when I think I’ve managed that one – although it seems like it could take a lifetime! Maybe the world didn’t change – I just saw it differently and began to realise that most change has to begin in me.

Remembering

It was with a sense of deja vu that I drove up the A1 on the evening of January 7. The snow made everything look very different, but just under a year ago I covered much of the same journey after an SU staff meeting. No-one could have guessed what would happen next. Within 15 minutes of being home, my wife Jackie had a brain haemorrhage. After a roller coaster ride where we were told she would not survive she is currently settled in a superb nursing home having suffered sugnificant brain damage in the days that followed.

The rest of life has been put into perspective throughout 2009, but in the midst of it all, I have learned that God can be trusted even when everything else seems uncertain. I have seen his hand at work through other people and been aware of being supported by others.

Part of that remembering has been thinking about the people who have been significant in my own faith development and giving thanks to God for them. The biggest issue that God’s peoiple seemed to face was they had this amazing ability to forget! They regularly forgot
a) Who they were – God’s treasured possession
b) What God had done for them? – in history through generations
c) How God had provided for them in the present

As I look ahead to 2010, I find myself wanting to be someone who remembers these three things.