The Day After 9/11

Karen and I are in South Carolina babysitting Abby. Our oldest son and wife are in China to adopt baby girl #2. Life is different with Abby but good. She is easy to please. She laughs at pawpaw when he makes funny noises, loves french fries, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, counting things and the tickle spider.

We went to Westminster Presbyterian Church yesterday. It was different but good. We ate at a Mexican food place after church. It was different and not so good.

Anyway I made an effort to avoid all the 9/11 stuff on TV yesterday. I just didn't want to do the 9/11 thing. It's been on TV for a week already and watching more of it was more than I wanted to endure. I'm kind of glad we are out of town because there was a big county wide 9/11 event at the local football field last night and if we had been home I would have had to go. Sounds cold-hearted I know.

Of course I couldn't escape it altogether. There was some mention of it in church though not as much as I expected and I did see a few minutes of it on TV from time to time. As midnight approached I began to feel hopeful that with the start of a new day it would all be over and life would be normal again.

I feel bad about my attitude, even a little guilty. I know we need to remember but...

I really don't need to be reminded that our world has changed since 9/11. There are news stories on TV everyday to reinforce the ongoing reality of it. My family has experienced it in a personal way (though to a lesser degree than many) since my oldest son has done tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The present realities of people going through their own 9/11 experience in the hundreds of families whose lives have been impacted by the fires in Texas, those I know who have lost their job, or who are battling cancer, make THE 9/11 seem just a little less important.

There will always be a 9/11 of some sort to deal with. As I get older I find myself growing more weary of it and longing for genuine change. The preacher reminded us that in such a world Christians have good news to share that alone can change the future for ever.

I hope those of you who read this will not think of me too harshly. I have taken a big dose of 1Peter 1:3ff to help restore my soul and I'm feeling much better.