October 2001
“Back To Normal?”
The coffee was brewing, and the rolls and fruit were being placed on the coffee table as the first pastor arrived for our monthly meeting. It is a good time to share and plan together in our community. It’s fun to be a part of a community that works together. As one of them entered, they reported that a plane of some sort had accidentally flown into the World Trade Tower. As we began discussing that tragedy, another pastor came in and the story began to unfold. We moved our meeting to the parsonage and watched as the entire horrific drama was played out before our eyes. The surrealistic pictures of the crashes were etched forever in our minds. It was hard to know what to feel. Sadness, pain, grief, fear, and anger moved through our hearts all at the same time. We sat for over an hour watching and listening in unbelief, knowing that our world would never be the same again. We prayed that morning and continue to pray for the victims, the families, the rescue workers, the cities, and our country.
Since that day, when all the country stood still, we have continued to wonder about the future, and pray in many different ways. The public decree is to now try and get things back to normal as soon as possible. I know that for the families of those who died in this terrorist attack, that is not an option We pray that someday they will find a new normal. For the cities of New York and Washington D.C. we know that normal will eventually happen again. As I reflect, I hope for myself and for you that two areas of our lives will never be normal again.
The first area is the understanding that we are not in control. We were reminded of this when evil was thrust into our faces. It is all too easy to think that we are independent and self-directed. That we somehow are the captains of our fate. To think that we keep the world in motion. I must confess that there are too many days that I feel that I have everything under control.
It’s time once again to know that God is in control. We do not need to live in fear during times of great uncertainty, because of God’s power. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:38-39) In Psalm 46, David spoke of God’s greatness in the midst of the turmoil.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uporar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46:1-7
Know the truth that no matter what will come in our world, God is in control. He has not chosen to take away our free will to do evil to each other. But he has promised to never leave us or forsake us. Depend on Him for your strength.
The second area in our lives that I hope will never go back to normal is the way in which we show compassion to our neighbors. The scene that struck me as a pastor, was the picture of the firefighters carrying the chaplain who had died. He was killed while giving last rites to a firefighter who was crushed when the first tower collapsed. The heart wrenching stories of those that came to rescue and died, are challenges for us. We too can live our lives in sacrificial ways. Jesus challenged us to live this way when he said,
“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15:12
It’s time once again to reach out and show compassion in Christ-like proportions to those in our communities. Have you been avoiding God’s call to help someone? Let the inspirations in our world move you into action in Jesus’ name. Just think of the difference that will be made if we move beyond what has been normal in our lives. Don’t let your life get back to normal.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Craig |
