Where were you on 9/11/2001?

As we come nearer to the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on American soil it is a time when communities are gearing up for memorial services, community worship events, and remembering our own human vulnerability.  I was at home folding laundry when I got a call to turn on the television and see what was happening.  I was supposed to be at a meeting at seminary that evening to debrief my internship. . . instead I sat for hours upon hours looking at the horror that the television transmitted into my living room. Those images are forever burned into all of our brains. . . they will never go away.  As a country we were all shocked and horrified in a way that in some respects brought us together, at least for the time being.

That Sunday in the parish I was serving there were a handful of visitors.  The attacks had such an impact on these people that they got out of bed on a Sunday morning and sought out the nearest church.  That was certainly the right instinct; when wracked with grief, seek the communion of saints for comfort.  As church leaders reflected on that following Sunday after 9/11 we marveled at how a change seemed to occur in our country.  People actually flocked to worship!  Churches were full that day!  It gave us hope for a revival!  People were in touch with their own mortality and need for God.  They vowed that their lives would change because of this, that life was so precious they wouldn't take another day for granted.

However, the very next Sunday it was back to normal in worship.  Where were the visitors who had committed themselves to a new beginning, pledging that their lives would be refocused on the holy?  Apparently their alarm clocks failed to sound off in time.

For many who deal with crisis and tragedy on a day to day basis, firefighters, police, military, chaplains, therapists, this coming Sunday will be a brutal reminder of death, the fragility of life, even the horrors that they have seen and experienced in their vocation.  With all the preparations leading up to this memorial event there might be some anxiety building already.  They need our care, our prayers and comfort.  It only takes one image to bring it all back. . . as raw as the first time. . . the smell of smoke, the sounds of suffering, the loneliness of feeling completely and utterly helpless.  For them Monday can't come quick enough.

So then, two things I ask of you today and the days to come . . First of all: pray for those who serve and risk their lives- their very psyches- to serve others.  They need the cloud of witnesses surrounding them, bathing them in prayer.   Second: pray that our country would turn toward the God of the universe, not just for one Sunday, but forever.  We are in desperate need of God who loves us and wants us to be whole and healthy and content.  Pray that the Holy Spirit would grab those who are unsure, who might be lukewarm in their faith, who think they don't need Christ. . . and move them to walk into their closest church, and run to the table of grace to eat and drink the One who is the Resurrection and the Life.  Amen.

Image credit: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/06/state-reveals-official-sept-11-memorial-flag/