The almost unimaginable events of September 11th, 2001, have seared the minds and souls of many people, leaving questions and uncertainties that linger a year later. Images from that day replay in our minds. During a recent radio documentary, an airline pilot admitted feeling angry each time he climbed into the cockpit. He knew his anger was a euphemism for fear…for the sight of two planes flying into the World Trade Center continuously haunted him. “Planes aren’t supposed to do that,” he explained quietly.
“How do you deal with your fear?” the interviewer asked.
“Each time before I fly,” the pilot explained, “I say the Act of Contrition."
Public Television has been airing a thought provoking two-hour “Frontline” special entitled “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero, which deals with the presence of God. Where was God? Where is God?
St. Paul once observed, “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as I am known. (I Cor. 13:12).
We’ve heard the politicians explanations; we’ve heard the reasons given by Al Queda; we’ve heard the response of the Islamic World; we’ve heard the reasoning of fundamentalists Christians … even the world community has spoken…yet we “see only through a glass darkly.” We see only puzzling reflections…and it makes no sense.
Where was God?
Certainly I’m not able to stand here and provide an explanation when so many others have fallen short. What I can offer are some thoughts, which hopefully can provide guidance for our thinking, decision-making, acting, living, and believing.
First, what happened on 9/11 was NOT God’s will. God didn’t do it. God didn’t wish it. God didn’t ordain it. I would defy anyone to point out anywhere in the four gospels where Jesus revealed the kind of God that would do such a thing. What I can show you, however, are many places where he advised us about how we should respond to such acts. Are we aware of his words? Studying his words? Those of us who call ourselves Christians should place his words above other Biblical writers…above all politicians…even above philosophers…media stars…professors and the pundits.
What happened on 9/11 occurred because of people. Those events were conceived in the minds of human beings…grew out of the hearts of human beings…were put into action by human beings…were in conformity with the values of certain human beings. We must ask ourselves what conditions…what events…would cause someone to plan for two years to commit suicide by flying a hijacked airplane full of other human beings into buildings filled with countless more human beings. What can twist the mind so harshly that it would engage in such an orgy of horror? Should not seeking the answer to these questions be the focus at least in part of our prayers, our attention, our action?
Where was God on 9/11? God was in the airplanes…God was in the buildings as they collapsed, burned, and crumbled into dust.
Where was God on 9/11? God was with those who lost loved ones and friends and work colleagues.
Why didn’t God prevent it? Because, God would then have to destroy the Universe. God would have to intervene in every individual life, in every family, in every domestic, national, and international affair to stop all discord, acts of hostility, injustice. To do that would be to destroy all of Creation, beginning with you and me by taking away our creation in God’s image, by taking away our free will.
Where will God be in the future? God will be with the innocent…with those who suffer…with those who live in harmony with Him and His Creation – regardless of who they are and where they live.
Where will God not be? God is not with those who seek vengeance and unjust power…God is not with those who seek to exploit others and who would use these events for their own purposes and goals.
Do we see a clearly defined picture as we look out on the world after 9/11? No…we do not! For, as St. Paul says, “We see through a glass darkly.”
Whose side is God on? Through the centuries people have countless times attempted to put their own spin on this question. We say God is on our side. Whose side is God on? God is on God’s side. Whether we are American or Afghan, regardless of whose banner we claim to fly, we must first seek to be on God’s side. Rather than claiming God is on our side, we must seek to be on his side and to know what that honestly and truthfully means.
Is there anything we can hold on to? Depend on? Place our faith on?
It may be one year, or many years, but ultimately God’s providence will prevail, and things will work out. The great Christian writer Mother Juliana of Norwich wrote in the midst of the dark ages in England, “In the end, all will be well, and all will be well.”
So we can repeat today, my friends. We must seek to be on God’s side. Then, “In the end, all will be well, and all will be well.”
