Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts

This is sad. 

This is very sad.

Yesterday, on, of course, the Tenth Anniversary of 9/11, I was driving my teenage daughters and a friend around Girdwood as they participated in a "Photo Scavenger Hunt" for our youth group meeting.

As we're driving, one of them says,

"Why was six afraid of seven?"

Well, this is a joke.  It's a silly joke.  The correct answer, as I and everyone else knows, is

"Because seven ate nine?"

And then there's supposed to be a goofy kind of laughter that follows such a goofy kind of joke.

However, that's not the answer that was given.

The teen who told the joke said,

"Why was six afraid of seven?...  BECAUSE SEVEN WAS A TERRORIST!"

And they laughed.

I didn't laugh.

While they were just being "teenagers" and acting up for each other, it made me sad that terrorism would become the punch line to a joke.  I'm sure I'm reading more into this than needs to be there.  One can do that with teens quite easily.

But it still made me sad.

I preached on remembering 9/11 this morning.

I found this from Will Willimon this afternoon.

I share it here.

On 9/11 I thought, For the most powerful, militarized nation in the world also to think of itself as an innocent victim is deadly. It was a rare prophetic moment for me, considering Presidents Bush and Obama have spent billions asking the military to rectify the crime of a small band of lawless individuals, destroying a couple of nations who had little to do with it, in the costliest, longest series of wars in the history of the United States.

The silence of most Christians and the giddy enthusiasm of a few, as well as the ubiquity of flags and patriotic extravaganzas in allegedly evangelical churches, says to me that American Christians may look back upon our response to 9/11 as our greatest Christological defeat. It was shattering to admit that we had lost the theological means to distinguish between the United States and the kingdom of God. The criminals who perpetrated 9/11 and the flag-waving boosters of our almost exclusively martial response were of one mind: that the nonviolent way of Jesus is stupid. All of us preachers share the shame; when our people felt very vulnerable, they reached for the flag, not the Cross.

September 11 has changed me. I'm going to preach as never before about Christ crucified as the answer to the question of what's wrong with the world. I have also resolved to relentlessly reiterate from the pulpit that the worst day in history was not a Tuesday in New York, but a Friday in Jerusalem when a consortium of clergy and politicians colluded to run the world on our own terms by crucifying God's own Son.

This was one of the best, most moving tributes to 9/11.  I was at the Superbowl in 2002 just four months after the attacks.  It was a call to remember.  It was a call to love in response.

This is a post I wanted to write today as I prepare for Sunday.  It seems so long ago but I remember, vividly, the emotions, the words, the pictures.  It was hard to write.
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On Tuesday morning, September 11th, 2001, the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 AM, Eastern Time.

At 9:02 AM the South Tower is hit.

At 9:37 AM the Pentagon is hit.

At 9:59 AM the South Tower collapses.

At 10:03 AM flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania.

At 10:28 AM the North Tower collapses.

I wasn't even awake yet....

.......


.......

It was a Tuesday morning here in Alaska. We were in our previous home here in Girdwood. I got up around 6:30 AM (10:30 AM Eastern) or so to get to a prayer breakfast at 7 AM. As is often the case, I got up and went to check my email. Ten years ago this was a task that took a little bit of time because we only had a dial-up modem. I checked the email and found one from Footballguys.com. This is a fantasy football site that I frequent during the football season. I don't remember what the email said, exactly, but the gist of it was something like this,

At this time our hearts go out to all Americans everywhere due to the horrible attacks that have occurred in New York.  We don't know what has happened or what will happen from now but it appears that we're at war.  We join with you in prayer for the victims, the families involved, and for our leaders.

That was my first indication that something was wrong.  And, really, I had NO IDEA what was wrong...only that something was very, very, wrong.

At this point, my wife was up and on the phone with her sister in the Lower-48.  My son, who was six, had gotten up early and had turned on the TV to watch some PBS.  Surely there was a kids show on somewhere.  He had asked why every channel had the same thing on...the same image of planes crashing into buildings.  Julie had called her sister to find out what it was that was happening.

So, like many people around the country and around the world, we sat there in front of the TV, watching, again and again and again and again, the same planes crash into the World Trade Towers and then the Towers fall. We cried.  We had no idea how to react.

Much was made about the reaction of President Bush when he was told about the attacks while reading a children's book to a classroom filled with young kids. He sat there, stunned, with a "deer in a headlights" look. Some criticized him for not jumping into leadership mode. Instead he looked dazed.

Well...that's what I did. That's exactly what many of us did.  "Dazed" was a completely human and completely natural response.  This didn't even make sense. There was nothing in my reality that put these attacks into a framework in which I could even think about them. I knew those towers. I had grown up in New York. I had looked off the top floor many times. The World Trade Towers were symbolic of American greatness...or at least our power and economic might. And there were so many people there. There would be so many dead.

Were we at war?

At war with whom?

I don't know how long we sat watching the same scene play out, crying, worrying, confused, lost.

Eventually, I looked at my watch and realized that I had a prayer breakfast that had supposedly started already. I knew the people (sometimes "person") who would be there. I called Dick and told him that we should probably go pray. So we headed over to the Bake Shop.

We ate.

It was quiet.

We headed down to the church.

We sat in the sanctuary.

And we prayed.

We prayed for victims.

We prayed for our leaders.

We prayed for our country.

We prayed for our military.

We prayed for our community.

We prayed for the responders.

We prayed for our enemies.

We prayed for our world.

It was about 8:30 AM, Alaska time. It was 12:30 PM on the East Coast. It seemed like an eternity had passed that day.

That all happened in the first hour and a half I was up that day.

I look back and see all that's happened since then and am amazed.  Two wars.  Increased security.  Anti-Muslim sentiment.  Fear.

I'm wondering if I'm still waking up.

No...the exclamation points just don't do it for me.  Let me try all caps.  Forgive me if it hurts your ears.

WHAT!  NO PRAYERS AT THE 9/11 MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE!?!?

Nope.  No matter how hard I try I just can't seem to get all worked up about this.

I don't know whether you've heard or not, but word on the street is that the ceremony of remembrance at the 9/11 memorial site is going to be free of any prayers, whatsoever.  There will be some moments of silence, which is always fitting for an occasion like that, but no prayers.  In fact, no religious leaders have been invited to speak.

This is, apparently, the same way it's worked for the previous nine anniversary observances in New York.  It's been geared to the families who lost loved ones there.

[New York Mayor] Bloomberg's office said the 10th anniversary ceremony would follow the pattern of previous observances on the date of the worst attack ever against Americans on their soil. Earlier anniversary events also have not included clergy, according to the mayor's office. The focus is to be on those who lost family members in the attacks.

"The ceremony was designed in coordination with 9/11 families with a mixture of readings that are spiritual, historical and personal in nature," said Evelyn Erskine, a spokeswoman for Bloomberg, in an email to CNN.

"It has been widely supported for the past 10 years and rather than have disagreements over which religious leaders participate we would like to keep the focus of our commemoration ceremony on the family members of those who died," she said.

There will be moments of silence in the 10th anniversary observance so people can have times of "personal and religious introspection," Erskine told CNN. (The Christian Examiner)

So, Bloomberg says this is how it's been done in the past. He said the planners don't want disagreements over who gets to be there and speak on behalf of this or that religion.  And he says that, everyone will get time for "personal and religious introspection."  OK, I get it.

But there is a point on the other side here that this was a religious attack on the US.  It was an attack by those who considered it a Holy War.  And, religion played a big role in how our country responded to the attack.  I can't deny that it was a different religious environment, even in Girdwood, for a few weeks.  There are others, however, who see this as a case of political correctness or the public square being hospitable to Christianity.


And there are some angry Christians making their responses known:


The Family Research Council has a petition with 55,000 signatures which says: "Your plan to exclude pastors and prayer from the Ground Zero commemoration is not only offensive to the families of victims, but strangely overlooks the role that faith played in bringing healing to countless lives."

Florida Pastor Joel C. Hunter also told The Christian Post in a prior interview that a 9/11 ceremony without church leaders or prayer paints an inaccurate picture of America. "It's going to be exclusionary, secularist only, and we are one of the most religious countries in the world. So, the bottom line is, this is not how we were founded. This is not who we are," Hunter said.


The American Family Association's Tim Wildmon, is encouraging its 2.3 millions subscriber to write to Bloomberg to protest.  He says: "I'm stunned. This event affected the whole psyche and soul of the country, and you are going to have no prayer? What's a memorial service if you are going to leave God out of it completely? It seems kind of hollow."

And, of course, we'd have to expect the Institute on Religion & Democracy.  Their Mark Tooley says:  “In a city where the most residents in recent memory now cite religious faith as strongly important, New York is tone-deaf to exclude all religion when remembering the slaughter of over 3,000 innocents.  To exclude clergy even at a memorial service implies that religion is not welcome in the public square, even in mourning.”

Look, I think I'd like a pastor or two to say some touching, maybe even important words at the service.  It would be cool if a rabbi and an imam were there as well.  No one can deny that the stories, the images, the words of faith took on new meaning to many people after the tragic acts of ten years ago.  Religion was very important...to many persons.

But it wasn't important to all.  And it wasn't my faith, the Christian faith, that was important to all of those for whom religion was important.  It may be political correctness on my part, but I'm not comfortable with lining up religious leaders from every faith under the sun...or at least every faith that responded that day or was represented among the victims.  And I'm not comfortable with having the big three (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim) speak and ignore the rest.

But, most important for me, I'm uncomfortable with the kind of Christianity that we normally see in our "public square."  It's a "safe" faith...avoiding the calls to confession for sins, avoiding language that might offend other faiths, prettying up the message of salvation and justice and hope.  It might make people feel better.  The words might be "nice."  But oftentimes we make it safe.

And so, sure, I lament that there won't be a prayer or Scripture read or the message of resurrection (a powerful one in the face of tragedy) proclaimed.  But that's because it would mean a lot to ME.

There will be many other places and times for us Christians to proclaim the good news in response to those attacks ten years ago.  I will do that in Girdwood next week as we, too, remember.

But forgive me if I'm not too angry that they won't be praying at the 9/11 memorial that day.  Well, the people up front may not be praying.  There will be a whole lot of praying from the folks in the crowd.

This is a call from Bishop Larry Goodpaster, President of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 9/11/01 with prayer.   It is found on the UMC website:

On behalf of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church I greet you in the name of Jesus the Christ in whom “all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven….” (Colossians 1:19-20, NRSV)

On this, the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, I call upon United Methodists and all people of faith to a renewed commitment to ministry of reconciliation, and to being witnesses of God’s love and grace for and in the whole world. As people of faith, we approach this anniversary with the gift of both memory and hope.

None of us who watched in shock and horror as the events unfolded on that fateful day in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC will ever forget the images. We remember the innocent lives that were lost on that day. We remember the first responders who put their lives on the line to provide assistance in the midst of the devastation. We remember the ways in which the world reached out to embrace us in our pain and grief. And we remember the generous outpouring of more than $20 million through the United Methodist Committee on Relief and our “Love in the Midst of Tragedy” special offerings.

Even as we recall all of these events of a decade ago, we are also a people whose faith and hope in Christ Jesus turn our hearts and lives toward the future. We proclaim the Resurrection message that the future belongs to God’s reconciled new creation, and we live toward that time when the dividing walls of hostility will come down and God will wipe away every tear, and death will be no more. In a world of violence and revenge, of suspicion and fear, of mistrust and hatred, we dare to proclaim an alternative vision known throughout Scriptures as God’s Shalom. We believe that God works for good in all things, and that the goodness and mercy of God can overcome even the most tragic events and experiences in this world.

In the days and weeks ahead, communities will be marking this anniversary in a variety of ways, and we urge our churches to lead in planning for and providing services of worship and prayer. Let us build bridges of trust and reconciliation through these services by inviting and encouraging people of all faiths to come together for prayer. Let us work for personal and social holiness by practicing John Wesley’s General Rules for the people called Methodist, especially to do no harm and to do good. Let us seek to restore a sense of hope for the future by praying for and working for the healing of broken relationships. Let us remember that day of pain, suffering, and grief; but let us also seek to bind up the wounds and renew our efforts to work for peace with justice.

Above all else let us live as faithful followers of the Prince of Peace and, in the words of the author of the Letter to the Colossians: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other….” (Colossians 3:12-13, NRSV) May our memory and our hope unite to move all of us toward peace and inspire us to live with compassion, confidence and courage.

Larry M. Goodpaster
President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church