9/11

     It's just two numbers, marking another day on the calendar. But it stands for so much more than that.

     As the sun rose in the east on Tuesday morning, it was simply another September day in the good ol' U.S. of A. Football season was about to start, could Kurt Warner lead St Louis back to the Super Bowl? Every household in America was tuned into ABC on Monday nights. In college, could Oklahoma repeat as national champs? And what is this new BCS system, anyway?
      In country music, there was song after song after song that would become well-known: "Austin", "But For the Grace of God", "I'm Already There", "It's a Great Day To Be Alive", "One More Day", "Only in America", "Riding with Private Malone", "Where I Come From", "Who I Am", just to name a few), there was this Australian guy named Keith Urban who was new, Garth Brooks was winding down, Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw were still in the middle of their careers,  and Lonestar and Diamond Rio weren't quite finished yet.
     Steven Curtis Chapman had just released his "Declaration" album, in Christian music news; which was huge. The Backstreet Boys and N'Sync ruled the pop charts along with Britney Spears.
     The four highest-grossing movies of the year featured many characters we've come to know as a culture, any of these sound familiar? #1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone; #2, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring; #3, Monsters, Inc; #4, Shrek. Also in theaters: A Knight's Tale, Legally Blonde, and The Princess Dairies.
     Nokia and Motorola were the two main cell phone companies, gas was about $1.40 a gallon or so, and pictures were still taken on rolls of film

     On September 11, at 8:49 a.m. Eastern time, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. It had been hijacked by a group of Islamic terrorists, with the Al-Queda terrorist organization, veering from its intended course of Boston-to-LA. United Airlines Flight 175 was also on the same course, it was hijacked and plowed into the south tower at 9:03 a.m. The planes exploded upon impact, and the buildings' internal structures couldn't withstand such a violent shock. They collapsed, crumbling amid a horrific scene of shattered concrete and flames, acrid burning smoke was billowing everywhere, and there was a frantic stampede in order to escape. For many, they never made it. America's citizens were stunned, watching in shock as the media outlets tried to attempt to understand what had happened.

     As stunned spectators, we as a country prayed and watched the news. We found out that this was not an accident, that unimaginably evil men had done something so horrific, for a reason that no one really understood. It resulted not only in their own deaths; but brought an end to the lives of the other 246 passengers on the planes, and 2,991 lives lost altogether. And then we learned that American Airlines Flight 77 had also been hijacked, and was driven into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. at 9:37 a.m.  President George W. Bush was speaking at an elementary school in Florida when reporters first asked him about what happened, his first response to them was, paraphrased, "Not right now. There was something that happened, but there's a lot of kids here, and we don't want to scare them too much. I'll answer your questions later."
     This was part of his statement for the press: "Today we have had a national tragedy. Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country. I have spoken to the Vice-President, to the mayor of New York, to the director of the FBI, and have ordered that the full resources of the federal government be used for the support of the victims and their families, and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down those folks who committed this attack. Terrorism against our nation will not stand."

     That was what the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93 thought, too. The plane left Newark, New Jersey, en route to San Francisco. There were four hijackers on the plane, 45 minutes in they stormed the cockpit and stabbed the pilots to death, seizing control of the plane and redirecting it eastward. Overhearing conversation between the hijackers, the passengers realized that this was going to be a suicide mission, aiming for the White House. Several of them called family members, where they found out more details of the other planes, and to say goodbye.
     Then the passengers and crew, led by Mark Bingham, Jeremy Glick, and Todd Beamer, launched a counterattack of their own. They wrestled control away from the hijackers, and immediately dropped the plane. The aircraft plowed into a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, all 44 souls aboard were killed instantly. That act of sacrifice was one of the incredible stories in a time of unreality, where honor and horror were intertwined, as we were reeling, trying to comprehend the events. In stopping the hijackers, they became heroes, and saved an untold amount of innocent lives. They became heroes, as did the firefighters and policemen, National Guard and EMTs, everyone who helped with the rescue efforts for those trapped in the rubble. Some of the rescuers were lost, too. But the military gained a lot of new recruits over that time; many young kids realized that they wanted to protect this country when they grew up.
     There was this unbelievable sense of togetherness and community and thankfulness, the closest we can ever come to it nationally in ordinary times is during the Olympics; regionally it can come from a tornado or an ice storm  Tales that were dreadful and terrible to hear about were on the news, but also stories that were just awe-inspiring and evidence of God's mercy.

     In the immediate aftermath, all NFL, college and high school football games were canceled. Major League Baseball paused its' playoffs, I believe, the Yankees went to the World Series. As much as we hated the Yankees, they needed to be there, in order to restore some type of normalcy to the world. We struggled with how to respond to such a tragedy as a culture, sports played a key role in restoring some sense of normal reality to our worlds. So did country music. Alan Jackson immediately wrote a song trying to deal with what happened, and it was needed. It was "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning(On That September Day)?"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvj6zdWLUuk
     Lee Greenwood's "God Bless The USA" was played everywhere, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNqUORIFV4I
     Darryl Worley asked us an important question a few months later, "Have You Forgotten?" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6yLQRF-cEU

     We sent troops into Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, to try to track down and eliminate all terrorists, especially those connected with Al-Queda, especially leaders Sadaam Hussein and Osama Bin-Laden. Some questioned why we had troops over there in the first place, "Have You Forgotten?' was a response to those critics.
     Life was hard for those troops, they had a hard job to do, and they went out to do it. It sometimes was tough, though; and they needed encouragement. John Michael Montgomery provided us a glimpse of what they were going through, in "Letters From Home".  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X75sVw0xH2c&feature=fvst
     Too many of those soldiers fell, a peril of their duty that many of us, I'm afraid, don't have the courage or belief to do. Tim McGraw attempted to comfort those families who lost a son, a brother, a husband, a father.  "If You're Reading This" is a terribly sad, but good, song detailing this sacrifice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwoXmXA8BvY
     We weren't just scared or terrified, or drowning in sorrow, though we were all of those things. We were also MAD. Toby Keith to the rescue, can you possibly listen to "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" without feeling proud and ready to take on anybody who dares mess with this country of ours? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruNrdmjcNTc

     Over time, we slowly healed. That was a good thing, yes; but it also meant that we got back into the old ruts of yelling at each other and blame-shifting over petty problems. New trials came, and we've had to deal with those. Gas prices have launched into the stratosphere, gay marriage, illegal immigration, abortion...more and more government power, the status of the troops out there...we did do some good, though. Deposed Sadaam's reign of terror in 2004, and killed Osama Bin-Laden May 1, 2011.
     Personally, I've lost my grandma, two of my great-grandmas, my great-grandpa, and a handful of uncles over the last ten years. Gained a new baby sister, understanding what it's like to love someone in your life with Down's. Had my house burn down from a fire, and rebuilt that. Graduated high school, and otherwise just grew up. There's been a lot of things to walk through, many opportunities to witness and lean on God's strength and provision to get me safely through whatever He set in the path. He's given me a lot of good teachers in life to learn different skills from, and good friends to help out along the way. Whatever dangers we face as a country, whatever challenges come my way personally, and whatever I end up with as my mark on the world, His Will will be done, and life will go the way it's supposed to.

     Our world was changed forever that day, and it will never be the same. People under twenty-one don't really know what it was like beforehand, not really. We might have some idea, but we don't know. And our parents probably can't imagine growing up in the world we did.
     A wise tennis coach I know once said that 9/11 was our generation's Pearl Harbor, our generation's JFK shooting, our generation's Challenger explosion; it shaped our identity in some way, and we will always remember where we were when it happened and what we were doing. People today seem to forget that, the dark place that we went through, it's unpleasant to think about, doesn't have any meaning on life today. But if we choose not to remember the hard stretches, how will we appreciate the good? Solomon had something to say about this(come to think of it, he kinda had something to say about everything. But, anyway...) "Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many." Ecclesiastes 11:7-8 (NIV)

     Today is the eleventh anniversary. Have You Forgotten?