Remembering 9/11

My 10 year old son watched the Fox News 9/11 special report with me tonight. He wanted to know more about what happened. We would pause the program and talk through his many questions. He asked me what I was thinking when the plane hit the Pentagon. I told him that I was just worried about what would happen next. Where was the next explosion going to be? It was such a frightening time.

I talked through tears to my son about what happened on 9/11, but it felt good to know that the memories of that day still stirred up emotion inside of me. I think our country is doing its best to let the emotions of 9/11 fade. The fact that we still don't have a 9/11 memorial/museum, and that the dadgummed site in lower Manhattan still looks the same as it did in 2002 is a crying shame.  The more time goes by, the more I fear that we are forgetting all of the implications of what happened on that horrible day.  

We forget that we are united by something beyond geography, politics and personalities.  We forget that we are bound, at the most basic level, by the fact that we are free.  We forget that what makes us noble is selfless generosity.  We forget that we are vulnerable, and we are never too big, rich, proud and popular to achieve immunity from the attacks of zealous, wicked people.

Tim Keller, speaking in a sermon about observing the Lord's Supper, speaks of the value of remembrance.  He says remembering is much more than simply recalling past events.  The word "re-member", says Keller, is the opposite of the word "dis-member."  When we re-member, we unite around the truth.  Our country could stand to re-member right about now.  Unfortunately, it seems, we have chosen to dis-member.  What a tragic disservice to those who fell on 9/11.