May their Memory be Eternal!
Posted on 09/11/2019 8:15:34 PM PDT by lightman
Maybe it is because I feel as if I owe my life to the brave passengers on United Flight 93 — if indeed that plane-turned-weapon was directed towards the U.S. Capitol.
Or maybe it is because for my friends from Sudan/South Sudan, both Christian and Muslim, “9/11 was 24/7…and 365.” After all, I was at the Rayburn House Office Building that morning, waiting to begin a press conference on why there should be capital market sanctions against companies that did business with the Islamic Republic of Sudan because of Sudan’s connections to terrorism.
Terrorism! Hah! We didn’t have a CLUE until that morning.
Or maybe it is because for months after 9/11 I poured over every bio sketch of every innocent man, woman, and child that the terrorists had taken from us. There were stories of grandmothers on their way to visit grandchildren, young men just starting out in their careers, flight attendants that fought with everything they had to thwart the jihadists’ plans, proud immigrants working in the service industry, Irish American firemen and police from a long line of Irish American firemen and police, and so, so many others. Like my friend from church, Angie, a civilian Naval Intelligence Watch Officer at the Pentagon.
(Photo credit: Faith McDonnell)
So that’s why I am not getting over 9/11.
I add a caveat. Not getting over 9/11 until the dawn of the New Heaven and New Earth. When the Kingdom of God comes in its fullness, and every wrong is made right, every tear is wiped away by God Himself, then we will see as we are seen, and there will be no room or reason for grief.
The dazzling Lamb that was slain, the vast multitude that no one can count, the joy of seeing the Ineffable One face to face will make getting over 9/11 quite simple. Until then we live with — if not an unhealed wound — at least a scar that reminds us of the death of innocence and ushering in of an irrational world turned upside down.
It doesn’t mean that we have to hate (although some on the Left will say, as they always do, that truth is the new “hate speech” and that just remembering is hate. And besides, who are we to be upset for what we so richly deserved, we white nationalist, racist, wicked Americans!)
It doesn’t mean that we can’t forgive (although some on the Right believe that it is betrayal to forgive unforgivable evil, that we must have dismissed that evil — not understanding that forgiveness, real forgiveness, is only present when the evil is truly acknowledged and the Spirit of God enables us to say “even though” and to not allow ourselves to be controlled by that evil).
That Kingdom has not yet come. The evil in this world continues, not knowing that its time is limited by God Himself. And that some day, when those suffering and martyred cry out “How long, O Lord, how long?” His response that It Is Finished will thunder through the whole earth and echo in our ears — filling some with incomparable joy and filling some with unbelievable dread.
Until then, I will continue to remember 9/11, and to honor those who died then, and those heroic First Responders and valiant men and women of our armed forces that have given all.
So instead of reprinting one of the 9/11 articles that I have written in past years, I am reprinting the links to a number of them this time, the 18th anniversary:
“Remembering a Victim of Terrorism,” first published in Front Page Magazine, September 11, 2009.
Angela Houtz, September 6, 1974-September 11, 2001, Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory Angie served her country and the homeless – until 9/11 cut her life short.
Angie Houtz was carrying on two great projects, and although the worlds of Pentagon Naval Intelligence and the Grate Patrol (feeding program for the homeless) naturally did not intersect, they did in the life and service of a young woman whose highest calling was doing the will of God that she loved – humbly sharing that love and performing acts of caring service for all who needed her.
“Just One of the Lives Lost on September 11, 2001” first published August 31, 2009.
Officer John Joseph Lennon Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory
The man said that he, and many others, owed their lives to an “Officer Lennon,” who had led them out of the smoke-filled building. When he turned to thank him, he said, the officer was already heading back inside. Minutes later the tower collapsed. . . It is estimated that over 25,000 people were saved because of the officers from local, state, and federal agencies who gave their lives saving the lives of others.
“September 11 and Sudan” first published September 11, 2012.
In addition to opposing the immoral financing of a regime committing terrorism against its own people, we were convinced (I remain so) that the Sudanese regime was complicit in global terrorism and jihad. While some members of Congress also believed this and said so at House hearings, successive Administrations (Clinton, Bush, Obama) continued to prefer the fantasy that the Sudan regime was a good faith partner. They downplayed intelligence received from sources on the ground in Sudan pointing to the regime’s connections to terrorists around the world.
“Everything You Know is About to Change: Why I Will Never Forget 9/11” first published on September 11, 2013
Before the events take place that cause Prince Caspian to summon the Penvensie children back to Narnia, he was told by his teacher, “Everything you know is about to change.” But for America on 9/11, as for Caspian and the Penvensies, everything had already changed, we just didn’t know it yet.
“Remembering the Heroes and Victims of 9/11” first published on September 11, 2013
Every single person who was killed on 9/11 deserves to be remembered — even twelve years later. One aid to the remembrance and honoring our fellow citizens who died is the existence, all over our country and even beyond, of memorials to the victims of 9/11.
“Living Victims of 9/11” published September 9, 2014
The venomous evil directed at America that day has poisoned us in many ways, but this statement becomes more than metaphor when it applies to thousands of living victims who are sick and dying from illnesses and injuries.
“Sudan and 9/11: The End of Illusions” first published September 7, 2014
In the midst of shock, my only continual thought was how clear it all was now – that now they would “get it.” Now they would understand what was really happening in Sudan. . . I’m not sure I even knew what I meant by them “getting” it. I had not yet begun to articulate even to myself the problem that I saw with U.S. Sudan policy beyond the fact that it needed to be “strengthened.” It took 9/11 to make it clear that what was taking place in Sudan was being treated as a humanitarian issue by the U.S. government and that the root cause was never addressed. It was the same root cause that we saw in the suffocating smoke, burned flesh, incinerated body parts, collapsed towers, and obscene yawning chasms that indicated that we had crossed a line in history from which we could never return.
“Not Getting Over 9/11” first published September 11, 2015
When I stopped to think that each of these names, thousands of names, perhaps dozens listed with “and unborn child” — represented a real person with a life, a family, a story — it was overwhelming.
May their Memory be Eternal!
On 9-11-01 I finally understood why my parents and their greatest generation felt the way that they did about Pearl Harbor Day.
Sadly. I mentioned what today was to a mid 20s relative. and she said basically she doesn’t want to think about things like that. And that was the end of that subject.
Ditto. And I feel cheated by a collection of fifth columnists and political seditionists who have spent the last 18 years ensuring that those who aided the terrorists and those who supported the terrorists have not felt the wrath that the Empire of Japan felt due to their attacks after Pearl Harbor. America is still unavenged, and tge fear of America has not been imposed upon those who want us dead or conquered.
That is really sad. My son said same thing. My daughter remembers. She was in 1st grade. She spent the next 11 years in school with so many kids who lost their parents in 9 11.
I am certainly not over it.
That made it more personal for your daughter. A lot of the younger adults not directly touched by the events are so out of touch with the meaning of what happened and how it changed America.
December 7 1941
THAT still is the date that changed WORLD HISTORY FOREVER
FOUR MORONS HIJACKING OUR COMMERCIAL PLANES WASNT SHIITE ! They were complete losers and the ONLY REASON three of four succeeded
It was that the entire history of Islamic moron hijackings consisted of taking the planes to some random airport likd Cairo and making demands
There were 4378 hijackings in the 1960s to 1980s of airplanes all around the world
as soon as American passengers like Todd Beamer , A true American hero , learned that they were going to fly these plans into valid American targets
they ran it right into the ground at the end of that
and it’ll never happen again
So Now is Lameck morons either need a complacent administration like Obama witness San Bernardino or they will have to do something like the idiot on November 1, 2018 he took a rented uhaul down the E. Side Highway and ran over a bunch of people
Islamic morons are just that - theyre morons
We have about as much to fear from Islamic morons here in the great Old United States of America as a comet falling from the sky and ending the country
My son was 4. Death creeps him out. I wanted to remind him today he was the first one to alert us to 9 11. He was playing catch with his dad in the backyard and said daddy look at the rocket ships. The rocket ships were the fighter jets trying to catch the planes to shot them down.
9/11. Never Forget. And Never Forgive.
Memory Eternal/RIP.
Bump!
Wiw,no wonder he remembers so well
Wow,no wonder he remembers so well
Then the phone rang and friend from state dept told my husband to turn on the tv. The regret I have as a parent is the t.v. was on so much. My young kids saw the destruction and the jumpers! I was working in Manhattan that day. Very grateful my husband was home with our kids.
Several days later phone rang again. We found out a priest we knew was on one of the planes that hit the towers. Was on his way to visit sis in CA. Traveling standby, but someone gave up their seat for him. A priest’s priest. A good man. He was put on that plane to give comfort to passengers.
I can only imagine. I had worked weekend shifts so happened to be home that day watching tv. Was a few states away. But watched it on live tv as much as possible. Heartbroken for all.
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