It came home. For so
long far away and impersonal, the beast came up
close and very personal. Before, it
was easily distanced by the narrow images and
select sound bites of television news, made safely
imaginary by the mind- and emotion-numbing surfeit
of violence in terrorist-inspired movies which has
for a generation fed the American public’s
insatiable appetite for blood and guts (as long as
they are someone else’s), and considered
impossible because we are a superpower, after
all—we were lulled into a false sense of
security.
We are strong and impregnable and separated
by oceans from that kind of thing; we have the
government, and huge firepower, and a strong
economy—this just doesn’t happen here.
The horrific images are
forever seared into our collective
consciousness. All of us
were there—all of us experienced the shock and
disbelief; we all felt the terror grip our soul;
we saw the heart-wrenching pictures of fallen
comrades and heard the stories about lost family
members and we felt a kinship with those for whom
death came swiftly and without warning.
Words continue to fail as
we attempt to express the depth of sorrow we
feel.
We grieve not only for victims who died,
and for their families—we grieve also over the
loss of what we thought was “life as usual”, the
routine which we thought, generally
subconsciously, would continue forever.
In one fiery, crushing
moment, the many issues over which we had the
luxury to quibble because they seemed so
important, evaporated. Suddenly,
more fundamental issues of life and death, safety
and security, trust and truth, loyalty and
allegiance, and prayer and patriotism consume our
thoughts.
Even as we struggle intellectually to
absorb the enormous onslaught of information
related to the terrorist strike which bombards us
constantly from every news source, our emotions
have been in overdrive. We are
subjected to a cascade of feelings ranging from
sadness and grief, to fear and worry, to anger and
even rage.
Many of us endure some strange mix despair
and cautious hopefulness.
What are you feeling
today?
Are you sad, angry, confused, overwhelmed,
uncertain, anxious? Some
thoughts to carry with you:
Don’t be fooled by promises
of peace in this world which are secured solely by
the world’s version of power. We live in
“enemy territory”: evil is
alive and well.
Remember how the
fight is to be won. No one
knows more than the residents of our very own
community that military might, technological
advancements and powerful weapons of mass
destruction have played a role in securing a
tenuous sort of “peace” for the past half century
(or at the very least, these things have precluded
the waging of another world war which might have
been the end of the race.) A security
based on planes, tanks and troops, intelligence
and covert operations is not, however, an
ultimately reliable security. Our
weapons are not of this world. The battle
we fight is waged with the aid God supplies. (II Cor.
10:3-7., which are able to bring down
strongholds.
The weapons of our warfare are truth,
righteousness, a readiness with the gospel, faith,
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is at
once the written word, the Living Word and spoken
prayer
(Eph. 6:13-20.)
This is the time to explore
who and what constitutes our true hope.
This is the time to
ask that most fundamental of questions: “Am I
ready to die?” Are things
right between me and the God I will face when I
depart this earthly life?
Only when I am ready to die
am I fully ready to live. Only then
can I be set free from fear, from uncertainity,
from the tyranny of terror. Only then am I at
liberty to live with hope and confidence, even in
the face of potential tragedy and even sudden
death.
These things will not be my captors; they
will not imprison my spirit nor keep me from
living as fully as possible the life God has given
me here.
Nor will I cease encouraging others to BE
READY.
What is more
important—career, money, prestige, degrees,
popularity, new toys, or being ready when the end
comes?
Remember the guy who tore down his barns to
build bigger ones, only to die and find that he
had lost his soul? Remember
the guy who built his fine house on the sand, only
to find that when the storm came, he lost it
all?
Remember the story of those people who
promised repeatedly to trust God, then found
themselves trusting in powerful kings, polished
chariots and political alliances, only to find
themselves beset by devastating attack from
overpowering enemies.
BE READY. BE SURE
YOUR CHILDREN ARE READY. TALK TO
YOUR FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES ABOUT BEING
READY.
The effort to find and
bring to justice the perpetrators is right. The need
to address terrorism worldwide is necessary, even
though we know that in this broken world it will
never be eradicated entirely. Now is a
good time to examine our own cultural values—what
is most important; in what should we be investing
our lives?
Now is the time for employees of a national
laboratory to see the meaning in the work they do,
seeking to reduce this and other destructive
threats in the world. Christians
engaged in this work should imbue their efforts
with a sense of justice, of contributing to see it
as
Now is the time to examine
our own motives:
revenge?
Pay attention to how
you feel.
Resist rumors, reaffirm faith, care and
encourage, wait with and stand by others. Pay
attention to your children. Their
world has been shaken. Hug them,
listen and speak when invited. Remind
them of the presence and comfort of a living God
who is at work at world in ways we do not fully
comprehend.
Christians
experience the surge of anger and the cry for
revenge. We temper that urge with our grief, our
concern for victims, a desire to see the
investigation and appropriate military action
proceed swiftly and surely and with thoroughness,
with the goal of doing right, accomplishing
justice.
Christians are the ones who call for a
balance between justice and love, righteousness
and forgiveness, righteous anger and love for
enemies—the radical way of life taught by the
Master Himself. He said
it:
“Don’t worry about tomorrow but seek first
the kingdom of God; do not judge too quickly,
rather seek what God has for you, watch your own
life and be sure you know the
Lord and that He knows you!” (from
Matt. 6 and 7)
We will continue the
journey, sadder, wiser, more convinced of what is
of crucial importance. May God
grant us wisdom, courage, and strength for the
journey.
May He deepen our love for Him, for each
other and for the world around us that lifts us
up, moves us forward and inscribes our
mission.
May the incomprehensible peace only He can
give fill us to overflowing, keeping our heart and
mind secure and resting in Christ
Jesus.
Thank you for the
incredible gift of sharing the journey with
you.
Love,
Pastor
Chuck
