It's odd, remembering moments from an exact date so clearly. That morning has become a kind of "frozen snapshot" for many of us, although I realize how important it is that we recall that it was not yet a snapshot that day, but a real and tragic event that deeply affected the lives of so many people.
When I was younger, people would often ask "where were you when John F. Kennedy was shot?" and I would wonder about the events of that day, which happened four and half years before I was born. In my lifetime, I think there have only been two historic national events that come close to having that evocative power for me: the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York in 2001.
Sweet Girl, of course, will not ever remember the events of 2001. She was not yet born; in fact, not quite conceived (she was conceived just a few weeks later). In many ways, her conception was a deeper source of joy and gratitude for me that perhaps it might have even been otherwise, coming on the heels of my miscarriage that June and then the events of 9/11. I felt as though that tiny person growing inside me was a gift, a real gift, a tiny seed of hope. And now I see her lovely face and hear her tinkling laughter and feel the strength of her skinny arms when they wrap round my neck to give me a "biiiiggg huuuugg" and I know that she really is a gift and a blessing, and that her sphere of blessing is widening as her world widens. May she grow more and more into gifts of wonder, compassion and peace-making.
And may we all remember too that for many places around the world, "9/11" kinds of days, days of displacement and suffering, happened before and have happened since. The crisis in Darfur has worsened again in recent weeks, just as one example. The Sudanese governement has launched another offensive, and in the past three years hundreds of thousands have died and literally more than 2 million people have become refugees. May our hearts ache with pain over the suffering of our brothers and sisters there and elsewhere, even as we remember the aching hearts of fellow Americans.
"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12, ESV
2 comments:
What a nice tribute to your daughter... It seems the best way to remember 9-11 may be the moments of hope and joy that followed it. As for Challenger, I recall that pretty well too, though I was only five and was more concerned at the time about why we weren't watching "The Polka Dot Door," my favorite show, which was usually on in that time slot... My dad is a big NASA buff so he was watching the launch with great interest anyway. It certainly was a shattering event...
It pains me to think of all the awful things going on in the world. With all the Sudanese implants at our church, the Darfur crisis has been on my mind a lot too. I want to do something to help, but it's hard to know what, especially when the problem is so huge...
Thanks, Erin. It's interesting how you remember your five year old concerns the day of the space shuttle explosion. I have similar memories from around that age to worrying about why I couldn't watch my favorite t.v. shows because they kept playing those things called "Watergate hearings." One of my first national and historical memories is of the day Nixon left the White House.
Challenger hit me pretty hard. I was a senior in high school, and it seemed as though everything hit me hard then -- I was having a kind of emotional roller coaster ride through high school. And yet it was such a terrible event that it's understandable why so many of us felt legitimately shattered. I remember playing Randy Stonehill's song "Hymn" over and over in the weeks that followed...which starts out with the words "In this land of the walking wounded, in this desert of countless sorrows, I will cling to his hand today and fear not for tomorrow..."
I think it's great you're able to build relationships with Sudanense people in your church. Their country has been through such awful suffering. I've had a chance to get "educated" about that a bit via our seminary, which has some connections to the Sudan. Like you, though, I wonder sometimes what the most effective and compassionate course of action is...for me personally.
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