It was a fairly humbling feeling last week for me anyway as we all watched the variety of remembrances for the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
I watched all of them play out over the weekend starting on Friday with the drone show recreating the Twin Towers in New York City, and going all the way through the show of pride before the Cowboys game with the Giants Sunday night. All of it brought a sense of pride as Americans all over the country took a few minutes to remember.
But, I am not done remembering yet. Any day where almost 3,000 lives are lost is obviously a tragedy of epic proportions. It was and is a day in our American history that we should never forget. More than that, we that know it, and lived it, should do our best to make sure that our young people learn about it.
We teach them things like the Civil War, and the world wars, and all matter of other conflicts in our history, why would we not teach them about the day that we lost lives, right here on our own soil.
In my humble opinion, there should be classes that focus on September 11, 2001, and all of the things that changed in America because of what happened that day. And, if you were alive to experience it, you know what happened.
Like me, you remember the overwhelming sense of showck and sadness that we as a country felt as those two towers came down. You remember the sense of disbelief as people in Manhatten ran through the streets amidst a cloud of dust, smoke and falling debris. And you remember the intense grief that we all shared when we realized that the tiny things we watched fall from the towers were not desks or office furniture, but were our fellow American citizens jumping to their deaths instead of being burned from the raging fires of jet fuel above.
Those of us who lived it and saw all of those images have a responsibility to share that knowledge with those who came after. Our young people need to learn the lessons from that day.
We must never forget.
When thinking about all of it, and watching all of the ceremonies that remembered, it is hard to find the lemonade.
But, I found it through a friend, and I can guarantee you that this friend would be shocked if she knew she was the source of my lemonade this week.
This friend was once a student in my Sunday SChool class when she was just a teen. She is a spirited soul to say the least, never shying from a debate, always opinionated, and rarely silent on the issues, but without even knowing it she gave me a Word from God.
All she did to bring the lemonade was cite a verse. It is a verse that has been used over and over as a wake up call for our country, but is so often ignored.
She posted 2 Chronicles 7:14.
2 Chronicles 7:14 states: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.
There is an abundance of lemonade in that verse my friends. That one verse gives us all we need to know what our country needs, what we need, and what our world needs.
It is right there in front of us, all we have to do is make it happen. It has always been the answer. Let’s do all that we can to make it happen.
