We Remember
Adapted from a post on by Pam R
September 11, our nation’s day of affliction, has become a day of remembrance. Yet I worry that as time passes we forget the horror, the sorrow of that day, and completely lose the incredible unity we felt as those events unfolded. We who were alive that day clearly remember where we were when the Twin Towers fell. I found a scripture that embodies my feelings exactly.
I’ll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness,
the taste of ashes, the poison I’ve swallowed.
I remember it all—oh, how well I remember—
the feeling of hitting the bottom.
But there’s one other thing I remember,
and remembering, I keep a grip on hope:
God’s loyal love couldn’t have run out,
his merciful love couldn’t have dried up.
They’re created new every morning.
How great your faithfulness! Lamentations 3: 19-23 TLB
Thank You Father. May we too never lose hope. Amen
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Mychal Judge, OFM, an Irish-American Franciscan and chaplain to the New York Fire Department, is the first listed casualty of the 9/11 attack on the Twins Towers in 2001. His daily prayer has become well known since his death:
Lord, take me where You want me to go;
Let me meet who You want me to meet;
Tell me what You want me to say;
And keep me out of Your way.
Fr. Mychal F. Judge, 5/11/33 – 9/11/01
Me, too, Lord. Me, too.
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There is a lot of coverage and remembrance of 9/11 on this, the 20th anniversary. 20 years! Think of it! But, watching the National Geographic series, I found my hand covering my mouth again and again. And the long-ago, far-away events came close: Todd Beemer, who helped bring down Flight 93, was a Wheaton College graduate and known to church friends of mine. Not so very long-ago and far-away after all.
Let’s remember that day, and who we are as Americans.
The things that unite us – America’s past of which we are so proud,
our hopes and aspirations for the future of the world and this much loved country –
these things far outweigh what little divides us.
Ronald Reagan