Sometime around the turn of the century (and millennium), I came across a comic strip that probably hit the newspapers somewhere in the late-nineties, with some mild political humor. The comic was "Zits," co-written by Jim Borgman, who also did political cartooning, and Jerry Scott, who also co-wrote "Baby Blues." I enjoyed the strip because I was not far from the age of Zits' main character, Jeremy Duncan, and by virtue of age alone, I could relate to a number of things in the strip.
This one strip began with some kind-of graphic images (G-rated, because it's a newspaper comic strip) of different events that happened in the 1960s and 1970s, with the narration that life was more exciting for people alive at that time, due to those events. The punchline, cutting back to Jeremy and his best friend Hector Garcia (millennial generation) talking, illustrates the contrast:
Narrator: ...it's just not the same for us.
Jeremy (to Hector): where were you when Bob Dole fell off the podium?
The point being that, at that point, people of a younger generation didn't have it as "exciting" as their parents did. For twenty or so years, national life passed by without much incident.
Then 9/11 happened.
Interestingly, in interest of comparison, twenty years later, our world is wrestling with a pandemic now 18 months strong, and with all the hoopla around it. Sadly, I have to say that what we have going on now makes 9/11 (as traumatic as it was, even for me) seem tame.
But back to the year 2001.
Looking back, it wasn't just the terror attacks. The previous year and a half of my life to that point had seen plenty of change and other dramatic events. Personally, I had just moved back home from New York City, originally a move I had seen and hoped for as the best thing ever to happen for me in my life to that date. Returning home instead had numerous unhappy surprises awaiting me: changes in my home life, being around girls again, and changes in entire friendship circles I had left just a few years earlier. Of course, all of these were things I didn't know at all were going to be, not until I was back. Going back to this post, it wasn't just that I was completely thrown for a loop on each of these things, but also the nature of these changes. We don't complain about happy surprises (at least, most of us don't).
In addition to these things, then in the summer of 2001, a young woman from my church who I had known peripherally when she was in high school (she was quite a bit older than I was), had gone missing for a month before her body was discovered. It was revealed that she had committed suicide, and the entire ordeal left a scar on my church community. As far as I was concerned, 2001 was personally a bad year already.
Then 9/11 happened.
Here's the thing, the "why," as in, "why I'm writing this post." With big events, good or bad, I like to reflect on them every so often, as my life "in the now" changes. (To wit: a couple weeks ago, I posted a retrospective on my "epic" trip, why it was epic, and how I see it now.) I assure you, I intend to do that now, after spending an exorbitant amount of time sharing the negative.
I think back to my pastor's sermon comments about how the events on that day drove people to come to church. 9/11 didn't have that effect on me; I was an unsaved church-goer before 9/11, and I was still an unsaved church-goer after 9/11. But, in the many years after and since, I knew God was gradually redeeming me: first, by getting me out of that church; second, through the (self-imposed) spiritual exiles revealing to me my need, if not for Jesus directly, then at least for a lifeline to a faith community; third, for my realizing that getting saved meant a specific moment in time where I declared that Jesus is Lord and I was choosing to give my life to Him; fourth, for the many years of intensive personal healing and personal growth work needed to remove many stumbling blocks that prevented me from growing in my faith and from growing as a person, period; and fifth, for removing (and continuing to remove) different sets of stumbling blocks, specifically worldviews, that were still preventing me from actually trusting God, as well as learning to trust God in new ways. As such, my views on 9/11 changed and continued to change in different ways, and over time I thought less and less of it.
Interestingly, one of the slogans that came up in the immediate aftermath was "never forget." Sadly, I think a lot of people have forgotten. Our country and our world have changed so much in the last 20 years (compared with any 20-year period in human history) that a big part of why I think many don't remember is because they also don't remember what life was like before and after.
So, twenty years later, what do I see and think when I think about 9/11?
I'll admit I've forgotten a lot of it. I'll admit I don't remember. Of course, seeing photos and watching videos will bring back some of the memories, thoughts, and feelings. But I know that I am a much different person now than I was then. And I think about the events of last winter (2020-2021) on our nation's scene, and how, just like 9/11, what has been happening has been horrific. But, what I would tell myself from twenty years ago is to trust God. As much as I would love to tell him that, no, nothing else got blown up, and no, the Sears Tower is still intact, I would need to let him learn to develop his own faith muscles, because that's how I have had to learn. I don't think myself from twenty years ago would have been receptive to changing churches, in part because he wasn't a full-grown adult yet. (His parents would likely have vetoed the church change suggestion even if he were receptive to it.) I would also point out a verse in a hymn that also came to his mind: "...tower and temple fall to dust..." Having just now read the hymn lines again, I would have also pointed out the lines that immediately follow: "...but God's power, hour by hour, is my temple and my tower." Trust in God's power. I might try and think of other examples to contrast the horror of events that happen here with times God has acted in the past.
Another kind-of-positive result of people remembering (and forgetting) the impact of 9/11 is that, in the years since, it has been listed as "Patriot Day." I look at that on the calendar and begin to think, hey, that's another reason to get the grill out and have a cookout! Summer doesn't have to end with Labor Day! ... I have a sense that that may be something that happens with Patriot Day, just like with Memorial Day and Independence Day, holidays originally to commemorate our fallen soldiers in all our wars, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, respectively, that now are used for parties, cookouts, and travel.
And, like the pastor at our church, who didn't spend much time dwelling on it, I agree that that focus should move back toward the God of the Bible, and toward His will for us now. It is still important to remember, but, like I did a few paragraphs ago, also look at what God has done since that day. For me, it's simple: He saved me.