A Note About 9/11

The sixth anniversary has come and gone, and I’m still thinking about it. I think conservatives, especially, have a tendency to want to make a bigger deal out of the day than there probably should be–jockeying for position to make the best point and loudest soundbite. I’m not so sure there needs to be public ceremony and solemn silence every year (presumably for all time to come), but at the same time, I’m glad that Americans can be somber and quiet about something. But I hope that 9/11 does not become a public holiday or that we start treating it like a three-day weekend either. We should remember. We should be sober. But it shouldn’t be a show, either. Sometimes we emphasize important things into commonness.

The horrendous event was certainly singular and must be noted. It would be reprehensible if we forgot it, and I’m not suggesting we ignore it. I am awed and chilled when I see clips from that day, and, as I remember clearly what I did almost that whole day six years ago, I even remember the full gamut of emotions I experienced last year as I showed most of my school an extended commentary of the event. I would do so again on the 10th anniversary. I want them to remember, too. At the same time that we acknowledge the worst we’ve seen with our eyes, it pales in comparison to many other atrocities that get no remembrance or attention.

Justice is still waiting to be served for that day; let’s not forget. Families are still grieving; let’s not forget. Genuine heroes need to be emulated; let’s not forget. History was made; let’s not forget. God is still King; let’s not forget Him in the remembrance.

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In 2006, I took about about twenty students to Washington, DC for a week. On the way home, I took them to the field Shankstown where Flight 92 came down heroically. It was a somber scene.

We also visited a chapel nearby dedicated to the event. It was there that I first heard Kristy’s Jackson’s emotional song. I haven’t heard anyone else mention it or refer to it other than at that chapel. Here’s a link to “Little Did She Know (She’d Kissed a Hero)” with lyrics (and a mediocre copy of the recording).