Never Forget... But Remember...

September 11, 2001. It's been twelve years since the tragedy of 9/11 occurred, but it remains etched in our
collective memories, a date that lives in infamy in the hearts and minds of my countrymen. A date that means much to us, but even more to the families of those whose lives were cut brutally short by the zealotry of fanatics.

"Never forget." The admonition is plastered on posters, on t-shirts, and online. Never forget what happened. Never forget what we lost. As a nation that has been in war or on the brink of one ever since those events, indeed "forgetting" is nearly impossible. But the call remains: never forget. Never forget the men and women who died simply for showing up to work that day, or just for being on the wrong plane. Never forget the religious fanaticism which fuels the sort of hatred that allows a man to murder thousands of people he's never met, even when it means dying in the process.

Never forget the horror of it, lest we be tempted to our own self-righteous wrath.

But in the midst of remembering national tragedy, in the seeming flood of awful event and awful event that seems to occupy the headlines, remember, too, that there is hope.

I will never forget this awful time,
    as I grieve over my loss.
Yet I still dare to hope
    when I remember this:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
    His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;
    his mercies begin afresh each morning.
(Lamentations 3:20-23)

That Man has made a mess of things is the understatement of eternity... but the God of all Creation loves us with an unending love. He shows us a mercy that never fails. The world around us broils in wrath and war and godlessness. But in Him, we find peace. 

The words of Christ, in Matthew 11:28-29

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

Why Does the Cross Make People So Mad?

Two days ago, as millions of us remembered the horrific tragedy in 2001, news began cropping up about an atheist group seeking to eliminate a symbol of that day: the 17-foot cross pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center. The monument, they say, gives unequal representation to Christians.

But what I found most telling were the words of David Silverman, the President of American Atheists, who

contends that atheists are experiencing horrible physical reactions after seeing the rubble cross, such as “inter alia, dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish.” 

This does sound a lot like a sickness, actually. But I think Mr. Silverman is perhaps misdiagnosing the cause.

Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

When I first read what this man said, I thought, how ridiculous! Give me a break! But isn't it possible that, in fact, they are having these feelings of sickness? Heart sickness, maybe? Sickness of the soul? That, even though they refuse to recognize the Truth in their minds, something in their Spirits know they have denied the Hope of Jesus Christ?

As believers,  our first reactions to this sort of thing are often annoyance or anger. But instead, should we not have compassion for the Spiritually diseased, who refuse to even acknowledge their symptoms?  Remember, Jesus said "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)." 

Pray for these men and women, that the Love, Mercy, and Grace of Jesus Christ be made manifest, and that His blessings bring them to Him. 

God In The Midst of Tragedy

Yesterday was the anniversary of the biggest, most wide-scale tragedy, certainly in my own lifetime. The words Nine Eleven, now forever etched in the American collective consciousness, as the day we lost 3,000 fellow countrymen, and were catapulted into war and political turmoil. A day where sadness mixed, for many, with rage, and with confusion, but also with hope and love. 

Many of us took to our knees that day, while still others decried the very existence of God. “Why,” they said, “would a loving God allow such a thing to happen?”

This, of course, wasn’t the first time in history such a question was asked, nor the last. The question is asked, often on a smaller scale, every hour of every single day. Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God even care? If He does, can He do anything about it? Or does He exist at all?

Romans 8:28 tells us, “… that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Not, you will note, that God MAKES these things happen. Rather, God allows them to happen. He allows mankind to act, and allows him the consequences of those actions. BUT, we can have faith that, even in the midst of tragedy, the Creator of the Universe WILL turn those curses into blessings. 

Remember what Joseph told his brothers. They cast him into a well, sold him into slavery. He spent time in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. But, when the time came, and his family needed him, God had put him into a position of authority, and enabled him to help his family, and indeed the entire region. Joseph said to his brothers, “And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. (Gen 45:5)”

Joseph’s brothers meant to do evil to him. And it was many years before Joseph could learn the plan God had for him. The good God had in store didn’t come right away, but Joseph kept his faith, and when the time came, God rewarded that faith, and used Joseph to accomplish His holy purpose.

The question, then, is not WHY do bad things happen, but instead, WHEN bad things happen, who do YOU trust to work those tragedies into blessings?