It’s the Christian thing to do
September 11, 2009 (Friday)
Today’s date will forever be embedded in our memories. It has a name all its own: “nine eleven.” When you hear that said, immediately you know the speaker is talking about September 11, 2001, “a day,” as President Franklin Roosevelt said of December 7, 1941, “that will live in infamy.”
I usually did not watch the morning talk shows, but on that day, I did. Wanda never sat down with me to watch morning television of any kind, but on that day she did. We were sitting and talking together in front of the T.V. when the announcement was made that there had been some kind of an accident at the World Trade Center involving an airplane, and the cameras were aimed at the big hole in the North Tower of the WTC. As we watched, we saw the second plane coming from the south and then came the huge ball of fire in the second tower. I turned to Wanda and said, “That has to be terrorism,” and she agreed.
Little did we know, as we discussed the tragedy, that in four months, death would take Wanda, and in our family that loss would overshadow the tragedies of “nine eleven.”
In Romans 15, the Apostle Paul urges Christians to be aware of their opportunities to encourage one another, because, in one way or another, most people are going through some kind of trouble: “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Romans 15:1-2). He concluded his discussion about mutual encouragement with verse 13: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Joy, hope and peace can be ours if we reach out to others to offer help in the name of Christ.