Remembering 9/11

I’m sitting in a great coffee shop in North Bend. Aroma, smiles, laughter, friends. People I know, and people I don’t know, stream in and out as they live out the adventure of life. As I order my favorite drink, a chai latte’ with 2 shots of espresso, I am not worrying about the potential of airplanes or bombs shattering the moment and stealing earth of her most precious commodity, people, but neither were the people in New York worried about atrocious acts of evil on September 11th.

So then, we remember…

we pause and breathe a little deeper, breath is life, and life is precious and vulnerable…

a thought, a prayer, a plea…

we remember of life and loss, of beauty and ash, of heros and goodness…

It is a good thing to remember.

Remembering launches causes to fight for justice;

to love the hurting;

to hold the marginalized;

to name evil and pray that we would be catalysts for good and God.

While we never forget the pain of a day like 9/11, the reality of its darkness also reminds us of the good that poured out through so many people. Ordinary people who became like Wonder Woman and Superman. Of Civil servants who endangered and lost their lives in the salvaging and protection of other lives…

They speak a message that we still need to hear; every human life matters, every human life has value.

May we continue to become people who live each day with redemptive hearts choosing to eliminate evil, injustice and anything that would set itself up against God’s good intentions for life. We were created to be life-givers, divine image-bearers who are able to rise above baser animal instincts toward a greater ethic of love and oneness.

A friend of mine posted a great quote today that captures this well:

“What separates us from the animals, what separates us from the chaos, is our ability to mourn people we’ve never met.” -David Levithan

Here is a great video from the Skit Guys…take a moment and watch it, and send out a prayer…

Skit Guys – 9/11: On That Day.