There are certain dates that resonate with a generation.
They are almost a shorthand for an event that needs no further explanation.
For my parents’ generation, it is “December 7, 1941.”
For those of my age in our childhood, it was “November 22, 1963.”
For most of us, it is now September 11, 2001, or simply “9-11”.
Thirteen years ago we all stood stunned, shocked, and incredulous at the sights and sounds of that day.
Even now I find myself unable to listen to the recorded voices, the 911 calls, the reactions.
We are still living in the aftermath of that day thirteen years ago in Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Syria. Names like “ISIS” and “Al Quaeda” are on our lips.
A secularized, non-religious West faces in incomprehension religious fanatics whose words, and deeds, come straight out of history.
May the Lord Jesus Christ enfold those lost thirteen years ago “in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye” in His mercy and turn aside the hatred of our foes.