Today I became somewhat reminiscant of my thoughts and feelings 10 years ago during the tragic events of 9/11. At the time, I worked for the grounds crew at BYU and rather than taking the lawn mowers out that morning, we huddled around the radio and heard the tragic news of the airplanes crashing into buildings.
Personally, I felt hollow and empty and amazed. Later, I felt angry, helpless, and ultimately united. I felt united with my fellow Americans as we united on many levels. We united in a mix of emotions, but ultimately, for a few months after the events, we united in a belief in God. In fact, some studies state that after 9/11 events, 90% of Americans identified belief in God and religion as a good thing.
Today, I personally believe that we have strayed away from this unification as a Nation under God. In fact, we seem more divided and things seem more chaotic as we struggle with economic and financial stress as a nation and our leaders seem to shy away from openly recognizing God in rhetoric.
It reminds me of the Nephites in the Book of Mormon who were united in Christ for 400 years after Christ’s visit to them but as they became more wealthy and self-sufficient they strayed from God and were ultimately destroyed. I fear that if we do not remember God as a nation, we will also be destroyed and we may already be decaying slowly with the debt issues, etc. we’re having.
I pray that as we reflect on 9/11 that we also reflect on the feelings of unification we all felt as we were united under God after the events of 9/11.
Grace for Grace 
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
September 11, 2011 at 10:55 am
Ken K
I couldn’t care less about whether or not leaders speak of God in their rhetoric. Far more important to me is whether their actions embody the teachings of Christ. It was those actions including torture, The Patriot Act, the Iraq war and general arrogance that compelled me to take a separate path.
LikeLike
September 12, 2011 at 4:27 pm
graceforgrace
Good points Ken. Actions speak louder than words.
LikeLike
September 11, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Cal
Grace for Grace said, “I fear that if we do not remember God as a nation, we will also be destroyed.”
Amen.
LikeLike
September 11, 2011 at 7:25 pm
ezra
Ken, you are right about ignoring the rhetoric of politicians; let’s be guided by the Scripture that directs the Christian to living life in Christ, apart from what the world does:
“… for none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Letter to the Christians in Rome, 14:7-8)
Through Christ, we have additional freedoms:
Freedom from sin… from fear… from the grip of the world.
The U.S. may fall — and great may be that fall — but blessed is the one who hears the Word of Jesus and obtain true life by his holy name.
LikeLike
September 13, 2011 at 5:52 am
Cal
Well said, Ezra. The recent Hurricane Irene reminded us how fragile this earth is. But the Word of the Lord will stand forever!
LikeLike
September 15, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Doug Dwyer
Living within 50 miles of the NYC metro area-9/11 had a profound personal impact upon many of us. Members of our county perished that day. My sister-in-law’s brother was in the first tower struck and was thrown from his chair-he got out-many did not. A family from our church who moved out to western PA live only a few miles from where United Flight 93 went down.
One of the video clips that are shown over and over again are of the first plane hitting the tower-it was filmed by a crew taping a gas leak a few blocks away when suddenly they heard the plane and panned up to the plane seconds before it hit the tower. The firefighter who lifts his hat to look up is my cousin-I just discovered that recently at a family funeral-he survived (thank you Lord)
In the weeks that followed-members of my church traveled to NYC and volunteered their services at Nino’s-serving thousands of ground zero workers in the weeks following. Along with serving hot meals (at no cost) to the workers, members of my church sat and listened as they shared their experiences-many referred to ground zero as the closest thing to hell.
We showed a video clip in church this past Sunday entitled “I Was There: A Tribute to September 11”. Check it out-it’s on You Tube. Our hearts remain broken but we look up to our Great Shepherd.
LikeLike
September 15, 2011 at 5:04 pm
graceforgrace
Doug,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences. That video is very good as well. Thank you.
LikeLike