Never forget
It’s September 11 and I never will forget what happened or how it felt on this day 19 years ago.
“Never forget” is a thing a lot of people say in memory of that day.
This year, for the first time, I started to wonder: Never forget what?
The first thought that came to me when I asked myself the question is: “Never forget what happened.”
That thought led to: “Never forget who did it.”
That thought didn’t get far. It ran into my allegiance to the rule of Jesus Christ, whose command is to forgive and to love enemies. I don’t get a pass on that because I am an American or because the world is dangerous.
No, if there are people who hate me because I am American or Christian, the Christ who hung on the cross for them tells me to take up my own cross and do the same. The Christ who prayed “Father, forgive them” over those who crucified him requires I pray the same prayer for those who try to kill me. Again, the Christ does not excuse me from following his ways just because I am an American.
As I thought more about “never forget,” my thoughts turned from holding a grudge to holding the memory of the people who chose to die on 9-11. Not the fanatical haters who chose to die while taking thousands with them; but the fanatical lovers who chose to die while trying to save as many lives as they could. These are the ones we should never forget.
Whether those firefighters, police officers, or regular citizens who jumped in to help were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or of another faith (or no faith), they resembled Jesus Christ that day. They didn’t ask whether the people they were trying to save were worth saving. They gave their most precious selves, even if it was to save just one person.
So, what do we remember about them?
Certainly, we remember them. We remember the families and lives they left behind so that other families and lives could go on.
But it is even more important to remember their spirit…and to remember that that spirit is still among us and in us.
We can still find that spirit in doctors, firefighters, nurses, paramedics, and police officers working in every community of these United States.
But we can also find that spirit in clergy, community organizers and volunteers, frontline health care workers, health and human services employees, nonprofit employees, public works employees, school teachers, and workers who keep on working to bring us things like food during a pandemic.
And, if we have the guts and the love, we can find that same spirit in ourselves. It was not a spirit that is exclusive to those who died saving lives on 9-11. It is still with us. All around us. In us. It is not a spirit that belongs only to those born in a certain place or raised in a certain religion or working in a certain profession. It is free and it is present in every person and every place in this country.
All we have to do is never forget…and chose to live like it.
Grace and peace.