Remembering 9-11

It has been nine years since that terrible day when we began to see reports of what at first was described as a horrible accident, then an intentional attack, on the Twin Towers of World Trade Center, and then also the Pentagon. Eventually we learned of yet another attempted suicide attack that had been averted by the heroic actions of the passengers of United Flight 93. As the day dragged on, we watched, transfixed, as the twin towers collapsed. I well remember images of the dense cloud of smoke, dust and debris. The heroic actions of New York City firefighters, police officers, Port Authority police, rescue workers, government workers and volunteers have been well-documented. We should never forget nor falter in our appreciation for their efforts and their example.

Today, however, I am thinking about how people instinctively, reactively responded to this terrible tragedy by going to churches and other places of worship. My older brother recently told me that when he was filled with anxiety about the possibility of needing surgery to insert pins and plates in his broken foot, he "went to God's house, because I knew that God is always home." Americans filled with shock, grief, rage, anxiety and any number of other emotions reached out to God for help, for hope, for comfort. I am confident that they found what they were looking for in God's house when they needed it. I know that I did.

Why, then, are many of those same people who went to God's house in those days not still returning frequently to God's house? He is still at home, just where He was when they wanted Him. Perhaps that is the reason. God is always there when we need Him, or when we want Him. It's just that we don't always want Him, or we think that, when everything is going "alright" in our lives, we don't really need Him. Maybe we have the idea that God is a busy God, and we don't want to disturb Him with trivialities. We will look for God when we need Him, but otherwise, we won't bother Him. For some of us, we regard God the way we regard our dentist, attorney, or even a bail-bondsman. He's on my call list in case I'm in pain or in trouble, but otherwise, I avoid Him.

I wonder how God feels about that. I think I know how I feel about that. I have three children, now grown to adulthood. I love them—always have. Even when they were or are disobedient, disrespectful, indifferent, or distant to me, I still love them. Nothing will change that situation. From time to time, they still ask me for help—help that I am glad to offer when it is within my means to provide. But I look forward to the times when I can enjoy their company when they don't need anything from me except some of my time, attention and affection. It is at those times that I can enjoy my relationship with my sons the most.

God is my Tower of Strength, an ever-present Help in trouble. He is my Rock, my Refuge, my Deliverer. He is my Heavenly Father, and He is my Friend. God wants to be the God of my every day, not only the God of my troubled day.