Ten years ago we were totally unaware of the impending disaster that was only days away.  America went about life business as usual with no consideration of the dangers approaching.  Most of us cannot recall what we did on September 9 or 10.  We all remember where we were on September 11.  Our memories are seared in terms of how we learned of the horrific events of the day.  A simple yet odd story of a plane crash developed into four airplanes targeting significant sites in our country.  Our entire way of life was forever altered that day.  A nation that thought itself safe from such violence had that innocence ripped away.  We felt confusion, despair and anger as time moved forward.  Normal would never be viewed again the same way.

We now approach ten years since that fall morning.  Can it really be a decade since those attacks?  Perhaps our awareness of that day is similar to our grandparents and Pearl Harbor.  Horrible events seem to find away to remain in the present tense.  9/11 remains a permanent marker in terms of how we view time.  It defines us as a nation.  You cannot imagine what life would be without its reality.  Over 3,000 lives were violently taken away that morning.  Many more lives were lost in the wars that would follow.  Someone will also mention over the next few days about the number of injuries suffered by our soldiers in our efforts abroad.  It will be years before every aftershock of this day comes to a conclusion.

I spent a lot of time this week reading over how churches responded in those days.  We will take time this Sunday for remembrance.  Words from those early days were raw without the insight that time now allows us.  Many of the prayers or sermons focused on our grief as a nation.  Experts were still in the process of understanding who it was that attacked us.  Congress was unified for those first weeks until the usual partisan politics returned.  Hindsight is teaching us about mistakes made in intelligence as well as in our war effort.  Our focus remains on avoiding another calamity.  We move forward while still having the memory of that occasion running through our mind. 

It seems to me that church or the Christian life did not drastically improve for long after 9/11.  Some congregations opened their doors for people to pray.  Many churches saw attendance rise briefly in the aftermath.  But the numbers tell us that our impact on society is no better now than it was then.  Bad things are not enough to cause society to change.  Our politics is worse than ever.  The economy continues to grow worse every day.  There is no need to continue with the list since you already know this.  Changing a society calls for a supernatural power that comes solely from God.  It requires obedience to the original mission given to the disciples over 2,000 years ago.  We can still make a difference.  But we will need the desire to be different ourselves by God's help.

Bro. Trey