Truly Safe

Do you remember where you were when the twin towers in New York City collapsed on 9/11, twelve years ago? Many of you were children. Perhaps what you remember is a feeling, an overwhelming sadness that you didn’t understand. I was getting ready to go to work. I turned on the television for background noise. I couldn’t turn away. I remember watching, horrified, as I saw the second plane hit the second tower, and seeing it collapse down upon itself. I hurried in to work, mostly to be with other people who could verify that what I was seeing was real. I worked then in a public high school, and the place was eerily quiet. We followed what was happening on our computers.

I learned two things that day:

1.     Security is an illusion. Since then we have implemented the Homeland Security Act, beefed up TSA, and allowed innumerable encroachments on our freedoms, all in the name of security. The truth is, if a person is determined to cause mayhem and pain, he will find a way. The only security in this life is to trust in God.

“Do not put your trust in princes (or presidents), in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the Lord, who remains faithful forever.” Psalm 147:1

2.     We need each other.  Think how different that day would have been if the people of New York had lived up to their reputation as cold loners. The whole world looked on, wishing they could do something to help. The people of New York were our hands and feet in those first hours. We are created for community.  We are better together than we are alone.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and had no one to help him up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one many be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

People ask me where God was on that horrific day. We know where he was; he was there, embodied by the many men and women who reached out to help, risking their own lives. He was there comforting the dying and strengthening the rescuers. He was there feeding and loving and weeping right along with us. God doesn’t always prevent evil men from the terrible things they devise; we wish he would. Instead, he works through us, his body, to comfort and lift each other up.

We are afraid of so many things. God wants us to take shelter in him, remembering that he is our only security. He wants us to reach out to each other. It is in sharing our stories, in remembering those who were lost and the heroic people who acted that day that God is glorified and evil is overcome. It is in sharing our fears today that God can overcome them. We can rest in him.

What are you afraid of? Find someone and share. Lay your fears down.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.' Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear…” Psalm 91:1-5