One of my favorite books at one point was "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." I don't know what it was, I think just the setting of the book (Brooklyn, early 1900s) fascinated me at an earlier age and I would daydream about what life had been like. I liked the irony of the title because it is rare to see a tree in the middle of Brooklyn that hasn't been planted in a pot. About a month ago, my little sister and I were in mid-town NYC walking to the Subway and I passed the flag above my head. I remembered that book and its title, and as the red, white, and blue flapped gracefully in the summer wind, it made me think of something else: September 11th was just around the corner. And I thought about how it felt to be standing underneath the flag, "a flag waves in Manhattan," with the anniversary of this day coming so quickly.It's here now. And, as I am so incredibly blessed, I was able to spend the day surrounded by family and friends that love me. I laughed a lot and reflected a lot about this day 10 years ago - like many Americans have done and are doing today - and where I was. In typical Chid fashion, we sat around the dinner table and I said I felt like we should talk about our 9/11/01 experiences. Everyone shared their moment of horror, intense memories welling up as we reminisced about the day that changed our lives. I didn't know, but my mom's boyfriend had lost a dear friend as the Towers fell, and he told us about what that man had been life, a brand-new first time father that was slaving away in the top of one of the towers as it was attacked. And then, it was my turn.
We all have a story about that day. I won't share mine, but I will say I watched every single part of the attack literally from the moment of the first plane and on. I still to this day can't talk about the men and women shown, jumping out of the windows with debris falling around them, without bawling. Even as I type this, my heart aches knowing how much so many people lost on that day.
It would be so easy to turn this day into another politicalized one - but I won't. I won't because we don't need another day like that right now.
But I will tell you what occurred to me today as I looked around the table at my beautiful, invaluable family. There were tears tonight - but there was laughter. There was sadness and even some grief, but there was joy. But above all - there was Christ. My (soon to be step-) cousin wrote on his Facebook status that we need to forgive the terrorists, isn't that what Jesus would want? And in his young age of 17 - he's right. I did not personally lose anyone in the Twin Towers but I know many who did, and as I reflect on a day 10 years ago that was filled with so much hatred from the terrorists who hate America - I also remember the love that overcame it.
The father who ran back into the tower to help the kindergarden class touring the Towers on a field trip. The young man with the red bandanna who escorted victim after victim out of the burning building until the last one came out, without him. The fireman who worked the 24, 48, 72 consecutive hour shift because he wouldn't rest until his unit was complete and all his men were in their bunks. The mother of young children who kept it together when she realized her husband on the 78th floor hadn't been as fortunate as the other victims and wasn't coming home.
These were the patriots. These who gave their lives or changed their lives because they were called to something higher than serving their own interests and just leaving the building in time. They went back in and didn't think twice.
So the terrorists who thought they won because they took the lives of over 3,000 Americans? I have a message for you: You didn't win.
You lost - because we grew stronger. 10 years later and we will still remember. We will still have our flag memorials in honor of lives lost. We will still volunteer and serve just to do something. We will still bow our heads to pray to the God that IS a peaceful God, the one who saved us when you tried so hard to destroy us. We will still raise the red, white, and blue and fly it as high as we can because you didn't destroy our spirit - you solidified it. Every year, the memory of that day fades a little more into the daily pattern of our lives but it will not disintegrate. We will never let go and we will never forget.
Because this country and her people are rooted on a foundation based on the biblical principles of Jesus Christ. We forgive, not because we want to, but because we are called to. And we refuse to give you any more control over how we feel or what we do - because we live life according to what He calls us to do, not how we feel.
As we part our ways on this 10th Anniversary of 9/11, may we always remember - john 15.13 "there is no greater sacrifice than a man who lays down his life for his brother."
To the American patriots who gave the greatest sacrifice: we will never forget.
