Let's Remember

It was ten years ago today that tragedy hit our nation.  At the time I was serving as a missionary for my church.  As missionaries we didn't have a TV or radio.  I was just sitting, reading my scriptures when a phone call came notifying me that the United States had been attacked by terrorists.  I was in complete disbelief.  Of course, the call came from other missionaries who were almost as clueless as we were.  We found someone nearby who would let us watch their TV so we could see the news for ourselves.

That day changed our nation.  We all felt that "Freedom itself was attacked", as our President at the time put it.  Over the next few weeks, I marveled as I saw our nation become truly united.  Suddenly, everyone wanted to talk to missionaries.  Suddenly everyone wanted to have more of God's presence in their lives.  Suddenly, we truly were "one Nation, under God."

Now, ten years later, our nation is once again divided.  Our government has so much fighting with itself that our own President calls it a "Political Circus."  We fight and argue about politics, about our beliefs, about things we see as important and about things that are trivial.  Somehow, as a nation we've again forgotten how to love.  We've forgotten to remember our God, our Father.

The President of my church wrote an excellent op-ed in the Washington post.  He put it better than I could, so here is a brief quote from that article:

Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change.

But we are less faithful than He is. By nature we are vain, frail, and foolish. We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep the commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. Sometimes we forget to succor the poor and the downtrodden who are also His children. And our forgetfulness is very much to our detriment.

Today, on this tenth anniversary of a great tragedy, I hope we can all remember how we felt on that day.  Remember the great heroes who responded immediately, some who gave their lives trying to save others.  Remember the innocent people who died before they could even know we had been attacked.  Let's also remember who we became as a nation in the months following the attack.  We became a people of faith again.  We became a people of love again.

Whatever name you may give to God, please bring Him closer into your life.  Or perhaps you don't believe in God, but you do believe in love.  Try today to love more.  Show love to your neighbor, to your spouse, to your children, to friends, to strangers.

Let's not forget this time.  Let's never forget to be a people of love and faith.