9/11/2001. That’s all one needs to say. It is as clear a reminder as December 7, 1941. Some dates just do not fade away. They stay with us. They haunt us. We cannot forget. We do not want to forget. We should not forget.
Like many of you, I’ve been to ground zero. I’ve walked around the site, and I’ve gone across the street to the little church that opened its doors as a place to serve those responding to the attack. The images stir and haunt at the same time. Bobbie and I had a neighbor at work near the Twin Towers that day. Her sister was working in one of the towers and didn’t come home. We cannot forget. We do not want to forget. We should not forget.
A man from our church had an appointment in one of the towers that morning. Traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike kept him from getting there. He watched the planes crash into the towers while sitting in traffic. Traffic saved his life. All of us have read stories of those who should have been there and weren’t. One missed bus or train, one extra red light, some little thing saved lives that morning. We cannot forget. We do not want to forget. We should not forget.
I have friends who had friends on the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. Although I did not know him, Todd Beamer was a student at Wheaton College at the same time I studied in the Graduate School. So many of us have connections of one sort or another that tie us to the events of New York City, Shanksville, PA, and Washington D.C. We cannot forget. We do not want to forget. We should not forget.
9/11/2011. We cannot forget. We have not forgotten. We should not forget. Thousands of men and women have fought two wars since 09/01/2001. Thousands have died, men and women with families who grieve as those who lost some one in New York, Shanksville, or Washington D.C. The toll of human suffering continues; some husband/wife/son/daughter will probably die in Afghanistan today. We cannot forget. We do not want to forget. We should not forget.
Today . . . we remember. We remember because we cannot forget. We remember because we do not want to forget. We remember because we should not forget.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God; have mercy on us sinners.