Remembering

As a kid I remember hearing adults say they knew exactly where they were when they heard that President Kennedy was shot and thinking, “I want to live through something that historically significant”.  I had no idea what I was wishing for.  Eleven years ago today was that day for me.  I so vividly remember so many parts of that day.  I remember watching the news before going to class and thinking there’d been some terrible accident, getting to class and hearing about the second plane, walking between morning classes and hearing on the radio that a plane went down in Pennsylvania.  I remember the fear, knowing that my Dad was traveling on business and having no idea if that was his plane.  I remember seeing a girl in front of the dining hall crying hysterically.  I remember talking to my mom later in the day, after the towers had collapsed, and sobbing just asking over and over again “what is happening?”.

It says something about how blessed my life has been that I was 21 the first time my world was shattered and I couldn’t comprehend how the world had changed in those few moments, or what it meant for me and how it fundamentally changed the world I lived in.  I wasn’t in New York or D.C. or Shanksville that day eleven years ago, and I can’t imagine how much more vivid the memories have to be for all of the people who lost loved ones.

Eleven years later it is striking how much things have changed.  I read an article today about what 9/11 would have been like if there had been Twitter.  It probably would have crashed, but it is interesting to think how technology changes the way we experience life.  Every year on this day I get wrapped up in the tributes.  It’s the nature of my job that I watch a lot of news, so I’m just naturally exposed to a lot of it.

Today I came across John Stewart’s monologue on Sept. 20th, the first day that The Daily Show went on air after 9/11, you can view it here.  He speaks so eloquently about grieving but not despairing and finding hope in American ingenuity and ability to fight back, rebuild, and not give in to hate and evil.  As I think about how divided our country has become in the last 11 years it makes me think that even the great ideals of freedom, democracy, and the American spirit aren’t enough to sustain long-term hope.

Hope that is sustained has to be in something bigger than America.  It has to be in God.  He is the one who has ultimately defeated evil and death, not democracy or any other American ideal.

May we never forget 9/11 or where our true hope lies.