Where Were You On That Day?

There are events in our lives that leave an indelible mark on us personally and the world.  For those of us who are of a certain age we know where we were when these events happen; the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the moon landing, the end of the United States War in Viet Nam.  In older generations, it would have been events around World War 2; Dunkirk, the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  Going further back in time there was November 11^th when the war to end all wars ended. 

Saturday was the twentieth anniversary of such an event when the Twin Towers were destroyed by two small aircraft and changed the modern world in ways that are still making an impact today.  I am sure most people remember where they were when they hear or even viewed the events.  The day is universally known by the numbers 9-11.  In my case I was attending my first day of theology classes at Huron University College in London, Ontario.  It was not my first class at Huron, but my first day as a full-fledged M.Div. student in the ordination stream having made the commitment to seek ordination as an Anglican priest.

It was a memorable start to that journey.  I had attended my first class and went to the Student Activity Centre of the University of Western Ontario, as it was then known, to purchase some text books.  As I entered the common area, all eyes were glued to the TV monitors that hung from the ceiling in various locations.  I looked up to see news people commenting of the first plane having hit one of the Towers of the World Trade Center and -peculating about the possible accident.  I don’t recall there being speculation about a deliberate act of flying the plane into the building, but there may have been.  As I was watching the monitor, everyone could see the second plan crashing into the second Tower which brought front and center that this was undoubtedly a deliberate act which would have far reaching consequences.  They would be more far reaching than almost anyone watching that day could have envisioned – certainly far more than I could imagine that day.  There were more planes – four in total -that were hijacked by terrorists but their impact was far greater than even the direct havoc they wrought.

Later that day, a memorial service for the victims was organized for the College for which those involved in planning and leading the service are to be commended.  It would be the first of countless memorials which have been held in many places and many times in the twenty years since.  The world has been changed in unnumbered ways since that day and those changes to our daily lives continue in ways which we may not even be aware.  Taking a plane to travel has been changed, perhaps of necessity, for the worse.  The United States War in Afghanistan which resulted from that day, has now officially ended in defeat for the U.S. as it did in Viet Nam.  However, this has not ended the American military presence in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.  The world still studies war and carries out war despite all the songs of peace and the many peace movements.  There is no sign of leaders making a real effort to use peace rather than war as their primary basis for foreign relations with their enemies.  And yet people of faith must continue to work for peace and to above all hope that we will study war no more, turn our swords into plough sheers and peace will flow like a mighty river in all lands.  We can only try above all to love our neighbours as ourselves whomever and wherever that neighbour is.

Blessings and may the love of God guide you on your journey.