9/11

It was a typical Tuesday morning at BYU-Idaho. My roommate and best friend Jewell was giving me a ride  to class in her old, red mini-van. We couldn't find any good music on the radio. Every station was playing some news report. Then we stopped and listened, and the whole world changed forever.


Funny how you record significant moments like that in your mind. I can still see images of that day: the radio in the van, the chaotic campus, my distraught professor (whose husband was supposed to be flying out of DC that morning), watching the continuing news reports back in our apartment, a special devotional with our then college president, David A. Bednar....


I honestly didn't know what the World Trade Center was until it was destroyed. I was just a little Canadian girl away from home for the first time. I had never traveled outside of North America, nor to many places within it. I didn't even really know what my major would be. But I knew after that day I would never be the same.


We all know what happened on that fateful day in 2001, and all the policies, security measures, military operations, and other changes that have happened since. Suddenly a nation who felt untouchable was vulnerable. Suddenly the unthinkable happened. We could have wallowed in the shock and anguish and let it destroy us - I'm sure some did. And yet in the terror and misery of that day, and the trials of the years that followed, there was also an overwhelming sense of hope and unity that rose from the rubble. So many took that opportunity to step up to serve and strengthen those around them, whether it be in their own families and neighborhoods, or in battlefields abroad. It is what we do when the dust settles that truly defines us.


At first, I think the country did alright. The fear lingered for awhile, but eventually faith took over. We were more open to strangers, more grateful for family, and just happy to be alive another day. However, in the selfish struggles of our troubled economy and rocky political world today, have we forgotten the very values that this nation was established upon? Perhaps ten years ago the threat was from the outside, but it seems today that the worst enemy is on the inside. We are tearing down our great nation from within by living beyond our means, ignoring the needs of our neighbors, and neglecting the very values that brought us to where we are.


Though we don't usually make it that far, the third verse of the Star-Spangled Banner says:
"Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land praise the power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our motto "In God is our trust." 
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."


Beyond the battle of the first verse we sing over and over, the lesson is found in the continued diligence of standing up to injustice and desolation to protect our homes, our families, and our freedom - all the while recognizing the divine source of our peace and strength. I think today we have let the small worries and stresses distract us from what matters most. We have forgotten the God who helped establish this great nation in the first place, and let fear seep back into our lives.


With gratitude to all who were taken from us on 9/11/01 and to all who have given their lives in the name of peace and freedom since, I invite all to step up and stand up for what made America great. Let us do our part to stand up to the evils of the world, the attitudes of entitlement and selfishness in our society. May we remember the unity, mutual respect, and brotherhood that brought America to be and carried us through this, and many other tragedies. May we see the best in others and look beyond our own wants. And may we do so in the trust and faith of our God who, by whatever name you use for him, directs our lives and helps us find the purpose and joy in the chaos and misery. May we never forget, and never give up on that vision of what America can be!


** Addendum: This morning I found these quotes in this article from the On Faith section of the Washington Post. They seem to reiterate my sentiments exactly.

Religion scholar Karen Armstrong says it's time for religion to be a force for good. "Ten years on, the world is even more dangerously polarized and religion, for obvious reasons, religion is seen not as part of the solution but part of the problem."


"It seems that much of the post-9/11 renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed," writes Thomas Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "It should not require tragedy for us to remember God."


“There are three lessons to be learned from 9/11,” writes Rick Warren. “First, life is a gift that is fragile and brief. Whatever you are going to do with your life, you had better get it done. Second, everybody needs community. And thirdly, everybody has a spiritual hole in their heart that only God can fill.”