Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
– Psalm 30:5b
Dear Caldwell,
For me, the mixed emotions that come with the date Sept. 11 have already begun. I caught a few minutes of a National Geographic Channel program last night that ticked through the events of that morning 11 years ago minute by minute, including the events that claimed two men I’d known in school (one at the Twin Towers, the other at the Pentagon).
Yesterday, in worship our friend Johnnie Frazier reminded us that, however we think of God, Christian or Muslim, we still have much to do in our shared stewardship of this nation, its justice within its borders and its role in the world. As the Psalm above says, 9-11 brings both weeping for our profound loss that day and, perhaps somewhere deep down, joy for the promise that our Soveriegn God is still at work, reconciling peoples of all beliefs, and reconciling the world to himself.
Driving down 7th Street today, I saw the memorial that annually appears at the old Fire Training School in Elizabeth and thought I would snap an image for you. However you may spend tomorrow, my prayer for you and yours is for a day of quiet remembrance and honest seeking after our God in Christ, the Prince of Peace.
I’ll be back in touch shortly.
In Christ,
John