Spiritual Lessons from 911 by Bryan Craig
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV
Last week, I was spending some time in Scripture and journaling, as I do most every day. I always write the date at the top of the page, as my journal is also a historical record of my life. Someday, after I’m long gone, someone is going to find a few boxes of my journals, and they will read about my innermost thoughts, struggles, praises, and they will see how God guided me from His Word in life. This particular morning, I was writing the date, 9…1…1… and it hit me, “Today is 911!” Wow, I didn’t even realize it. It caused me to ponder this horrific event, once again, that happened 23 years ago.
Most of us, 30 years old and up, remember where we were when this happened. My wife had just given birth to our 3rd daughter, Isabelle on August 28, and we were going to the doctor that morning for a baby checkup. When we got home, news spread rapidly that something bad was happening. The United States was under attack, and no one knew how far and wide the attack would reach. Everyone was on high alert, and everyone was trying to locate their loved ones to make sure they were safe. Whatever you were worried about when you woke up that day was quickly out of your mind, as Americans collectively braced for the worst.
In the midst of the fear, anger, sadness, confusion in the following weeks, there was a renewed spirit of faith and unity in our country I had never seen. On the Sunday following the attacks, which happened on a Tuesday, church attendance in America was at an all-time record high. In this moment of uncertainty and crisis, people realized they needed help from a higher power. Also, for a brief moment, politics did not seem to matter as we had a common enemy, and it wasn’t a fellow American. It was strange and tragic and beautiful at the same time. I think by the second Sunday after 911, church attendance had settled back down to normal.
I felt a similar shift in hearts and attitudes in our country a few months ago, as a young sniper tried to kill former President Trump. No matter what someone thought about the former president, the near-death experience, which was on display for all to see, struck the hearts of people on both sides of the aisle. One thing that I noticed was the visible difference it seemed to make on Donald Trump himself. I saw a side of him that I had never seen before. He took off his boxing gloves and his game face and seemed very humble. There even seemed to be some empathy from Democrats and Republicans alike for this inhumane attack.
Death has a way of getting our attention. I had the privilege of giving the eulogy at my father-in-law’s funeral a month ago, and I made mention of the verse I quote above from Ecclesiastes, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting.” I commented that I believe there is more love found at a funeral than even at a wedding. Death touches our hearts in a way that generates compassion, kindness, love in a way like none other. It is impossible, in the face of death, not to consider our own mortality, our own life, our own legacy. “Who would be at my funeral?” “What would they say about me?” “How much time do I have left?” Things that really matter arise in the face of death.
I’m reading a really good book, “Living Life Backward” by David Gibson, which is a study on the book of Ecclesiastes. This book of the Bible was written by King Solomon, King David’s son, who was said to be the wisest man who every lived. If you have never spent in-depth time in Ecclesiastes, I highly recommend. It. Solomon was also the richest man to ever live. He talks about his life experiment of trying to squeeze all the enjoyment out of life. He tried every conquest, every pleasure, any worldly experience that even today, most of us would esteem as only available to the “rich and famous.” In his estimation, it was all meaningless.
It reminds me of my friend Tom Seay, who has been a big part of Influencers. Tom was an executive with Walmart, their first real estate executive, who worked for Sam Walton and oversaw the construction of thousands of Walmart stores worldwide. After he retired and had accomplished so much, he says he was sitting alone in his favorite chair with a drink in his hand and a thought haunted him, “Is this it?” Not long after that, a friend of his started witnessing to him out of the blue. This offended Tom at first, but God used it to get Tom reading the Bible for the first time in his life, only to finally conclude THIS was the life he had been seeking all along.
It is a counter-cultural way of life, sometimes even seeming counter-intuitive. The Bible challenges us with instructions like this:
- To be great, you serve.
- Love your enemies.
- Suffering builds character.
- If someone hurts you, forgive them.
- To live is Christ. To die is gain.
But when people live like this, it impacts the world around them. It is infectious. 23 years ago, God used this horrible, evil event as an opportunity to stir people to love. Hate did not win. What happened, albeit for a brief moment of time, was supernatural and inspiring. People were not thinking of themselves and their opinions and their demands. Our hearts were all drawn to a greater cause and a need for God to intervene in our weakness.
The world may have forgotten 911’s positive impact, but I pray we Christians can keep loving and serving and forgiving and showing the rest of the world that there is a better way, and it doesn’t take a threat of death to find it. It’s found in the death of our savior, Jesus, who died, once for all, so that we might truly live.