Thoughts on 9/11 #4, Irony and Heritage

Living most of my life in a small town I've grown accustomed to seeing relatives take opposite sides of issues, or when events impact people in the same family in very different ways. It is strange to me, however, when it takes place on a global level.




Not long ago Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal announced that his Kingdom Holding Company will build a kilometer-high sky-scraper on Jeddah Saudi Arabia. The building designed by a Chicago archetectural firm will be, by far, the tallest building in the world.



What I find ironic, is the construction of the mammoth edifice will be undertaken by the Bin Laden group.

Yes, the very same family that provided us with Osama, who was intrumental in destroying two of the world's tallest structures. At the time of their completion the twin towers of the World Trade Center were the tallest buildings in the world. In defense of the Bin Laden family, and the company that bears their name. They disavowed any connection with their terrorist offspring in 1990. Still, I find the strangeness of it all quite deep.



I don't expect that the bin(s) (sons of) Howard Merrell Family will build the world's biggest anything. I do see great evidence that they will do that which is far more significant. My sons and their wives love and serve the Lord. While we can't be immediately sure about decisions that little people make, my youngest grandchild says she trust the Lord. My eldest grandchild just posted this on a social media site:

Tonight I'm left with this question: Being my last year of high school, what am I going to be remembered for? That I was a drummer? That I was "cool"? or even that I went to church alot? Will anyone be able say that I was the guy that wouldn't shut up about Jesus?



You can have that tallest building, and I'll throw in the biggest bank account to boot.

It's STTA.

9/11 Thoughts #3, Calling Evil What It Is:

"Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature." These were the words of President George W. Bush at the end of the momentous day known ten years later simply as "9/11." As one who had grown weary of the politically-correct soft-speak that had become, and still is the norm, I found the president's words very encouraging. The Commander in Chief's words swelled up in my chest in the same way I imagined the British people must have reacted to Winston Churchill's description of Nazi Germany as, "a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime." (http://www.winston-churchill-leadership.com/speech-blood-toil.html)



"Don't demonize your opponent." It is hard to find commentary on public discourse that does not contain such a warning, or rebuke. I fear that we have so deeply imbibed this bit of "universal wisdom" that we are now unable to identify the demonic. We live in a fallen world, and those of us who live here are fallen. I believe that the events of Genesis 3 are historical. The Theological truth established by this Biblical account, and many other scriptures is undeniable. It is called the Depravity of Man (see post for 8/31). Those of us who accept this doctrine drawn from the Bible and abundantly illustrated by observation of human behavior do not mean that people are incapable of acts of kindness, etc., nor that everyone is as evil as she/he could be. Among other implications, however, the Bible's teaching on the human condition is that people are capable of almost unimaginable evil. Technically, the kind of evil we are talking about is not "demonic" but "humanic."

Keeping that correction in mind, one of the great problems of our world is the opposite of demonizing our opponents; it is the failure to recognize the demonic. Incredible evil is at large in our world. It is a truth that we ignore at our own risk. When a leader has the courage to point to it and call it what it, power, resolve, and inspiration are communicated. When we allow the "very worst of human nature," to go unidentified, or when we act as if there is no "dark lamentable catalogue of human crime," that is still growing as we speak, have we not become part of the evil?

It's STTA.

August 30, 2011, Rushing in where others are fleeing:

On 9/11 the first plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center about 8:45 AM.  The building, with incredible damage and fires raging within, stood for about an hour.  Stories from survivors tell of the heat, confusion, smoke and wreckage blocking exits in the massive building.  A short time later the horror was repeated in the South Tower.  Thankfully in the time between the attacks and the collapses of the towers thousands of people were able to escape.  In the supreme statement of terror and desperation, some jumped from hundreds of feet up.  

While thousands were fleeing, there were hundred who were going in.  Firemen and paramedics went in to do their duty.  They rushed into buildings from which others were fleeing.  Because of their efforts many survived.

Though I live five-hundred miles from New York City, and ten years have passed since that tragic day, I still see shirts and hats emblazoned with "FDNY."  The quiet heroism of New York's first responders is incredible.  With them it isn't a boast; it is more of a job description.  "We go into burning buildings while other's are fleeing."  In the Brotherhood that makes up the country's largest fire department, the members encourage one another to "Do the right thing."--the FDNY motto.

If you read the words of Christ on the night before the Crucifixion, John 13-17, you'll notice that He didn't mince words in speaking of the evils and dangers of the world.  

"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. (John 15:18)   

". . . you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. . . ." (John 16:20) 

"In the world you have tribulation."  (John 16:33)

"The world has hated them [Christ's followers]."  (John 17:14)  

 Remarkably, though, the Lord does not help His followers to leave the world.  John 17 explains how He is leaving, but He is leaving them (for His followers today, "Us")  A short time later, after His death and resurrection, he sends His peopleinto the world.

With good reason many Christians see reason to flee the world.  Obviously, we can't do so completely, I mean, we are stuck here on this piece of rock, but the temptation to so insulate ourselves from the world that we have essentially abandoned it is great.  Doing the right thing is often hard.  In the case of those who follow Christ the right thing is to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel."

To go into a world, from which we want to flee, with the message of salvation.  It's the right thing.  

It's STTA.

 A follow-up note:  (post for 8/30)

Thoughts on 9/11:

It was Tuesday. I was in my office working. Kathy called and told me there was an explosion or something in New York. What I did next says a lot about me, and the condition of our world. I just confirmed my recollection by looking at a list of terrorist incidents that took place in the time just before 9/11. (also here) Bombs--suicide, car, and otherwise--attacks on trains, buildings and historic monuments, and man-made tragedies of all sorts had become common place. Less than a year before the USS Cole had a massive hole blown in its side. Distance and repetition had removed the terror from terrorism for me. The flow of blood in the newspaper and on the news, combined with troubles closer to home had made me more numb than I wish I were. I just kept working.


As I remember, Kathy called me again a few minutes later. Like many of you, she had been watching the horror unfolding. I heard an emotion in her voice that I had only heard at times of family deaths or other major troubles. I knew that this was beyond the wickedness that, for me had become the new normal. I came home and struggled to take in the magnitude of what had just happened.

It is a balancing act with which we all need to struggle. Somewhere, right now there is likely some atrocity that is being planned, carried out, or just inflicted on innocent people, yet this morning I need to take a helium tank back to a vendor, return some borrowed equipment we used at a church event last night, and do this STTA. My wife is going to the dentist. While I type she and I are discussing what we need to do this evening. Life goes on. I can't just quit. On the other hand the numbness to the pain of so many that too easily hardens my heart is troublesome.

I want to be more like my Lord, who when "He saw the multitudes . . . was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." (Matthew 9:36) I know my capacity for meaningful empathy is infinitely less than Christ's, but I pray . . .

Lord, help me to see and be impacted by the needs of others, and show me what I can do to make a difference. Amen



It's STTA.

The Upper Room:

For nearly a year three of we guys have been hanging out with the Lord Jesus and the Apostles.  We have been meeting once a week for a time of study on the Life of Christ.  Last night we were in the upper room as Jesus transformed the Jewish Seder, the commemoration of the great Old Testament deliverance, into the Lord's Supper, the symbol of the even greater deliverance which Jesus was about to accomplish.  The Apostle Paul tells us that"

". . . as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes." (1 Corinthians 11:26)   

As I read through the gospel accounts of this final meal, I was again reminded of the humanness of what went on--the jostling for positions (Luke 22:24). the unwillingness of the Apostles to take the servant role (John 13), and of course the bluster of Peter.

You and I would have been right at home.

The meal that these men were sharing is a powerful communication of Christ giving Himself as the sacrifice for sin, thus becoming the Savior of sinners.  It is significant that He did not share this "Last Supper" with idealized, airbrushed stand-ins, but real people.

It's STTA

Unshaken and not Stirred

Here in Covington some felt it and others didn't.  Some of us thought it was something else.  When I felt the earthquake I was in a restaurant near a highway project.  I assumed there was some blasting going on.  In typical small world fashion, I found out it really was an earthquake via Louisiana--a phone-call from my son.    

I feel like this is a warm-up for a Rodney Dangerfield routine, but one Californian commented that his cellphone set on vibrate registered higher on the Richter Scale.  At first, based on my mostly unshaken and not stirred experience, I was ready to agree with the Left Coaster.  Then reports of actual damage started coming in.  The Washington Monument may be damaged.  I heard of at least one school that is closed.  At least one wedding was disrupted.  Numerous buildings were damaged.  It's nothing like what happened in Japan, but, for many, not insignificant, either.

For those who are dealing with damaged property, the earthquake clearly had a negative impact.  Where the damage was to public buildings whole communities are impacted.  Just because the quake didn't really move me, doesn't mean it was insignificant.

On the other hand, the Mid-Atlantic 2011 Quake does not merit any name that ends in "geddon."  Based on the promises in the Word of God I am confident Jesus is coming again.  I was sure of that on Monday.  I'm no more or less sure today.

Any time God taps us on the shoulder and says, "See what I can do."  we ought to pay attention.  

It's STTA.

"We Were Family"

I haven't read the book, yet, but I hear good things about it. A young friend, who has read Francis Chan's Crazy Love, sent this quote from the popular book:


" A while back a former gang member came to our church. He was heavily tattooed and rough around the edges, but he was curious to see what church was like. He had a relationship with Jesus and seemed to get fairly involved with the church.
After a few months, I found out the guy was no longer coming to the church. When asked why he didn't come anymore, he gave the following explanation: 'I had the wrong idea of what church was going to be like. When I joined the church, I thought it was going to be like joining a gang. You see, in gangs we weren't just nice to each other once a week--- we were family.'"


Ouch!


"A few decades ago Bill Gather got us singing, "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God."


And I am glad, especially when the rest of the family loves on me. I confess, far too often, though, I regard my spiritual family kind of like an insurance policy--nice to have when I need it, but ignored most of the rest of the time.


Thanks, Maria & Francis, for reminding me that we need to be family all the time. For those of us who claim God as our Father . . .


It's STTA.