Never forget

Psalm 9:11
Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.

My sister-in-law recently pointed out to me an interesting fact. She explained to me her disdain for the way society dwells on the negative events of our lives. She vocalized her thoughts as we, the United States, approached the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Her basic point was this: why do we spend so much time celebrating the memories of horrible events and holding those horrible events dear to our hearts as if they were some form of security blanket?

I’ve got to be honest, it’s a darn good question. While the concept of “Never forget” is good, the way society goes about never forgetting is just sick. I think this was her point as well. We get together and hold memorial services where we cry and lament and relive the events as though it just happened. Sure, it is good to remember the sacrifice and the heroics, but the way our society chooses to do it gives the very people who caused us such great loss another day of celebration.

While citizens gather around the WTC Memorial in New York City with their somber attitudes and tear filled eyes, the terrorists, no doubt, sit in their compounds gloating. I’m sure their conversations revolve around how “scared” the Americans are that there will be a security breach on this day of remembrance. I’m sure they gloat as they watch the live coverage of people crying and sobbing over their losses. And I’m pretty sure that their intentions to terrorize and manipulate our way of living are fully realized as they see the state of the people and find joy in knowing that they did this to us. They made us sad; they hurt our nation; they killed our loved ones, and we continually give them the satisfaction of seeing how much it hurts.

(Please do not construe this as some form of unpatriotic rambling by a psycho who doesn’t care about the loss and tragedy of 9/11/2001. I am an American, a patriot, and a citizen of these United States. I believe in our freedoms, our Constitution, and our status as the greatest nation on the planet.)

My sister-in-law had a brilliant idea: what if on that day we celebrate the good in our lives instead? I thought, even beyond celebrating the good in our own lives, we could spend time dwelling on our good as a nation. What if instead of celebrating the horrible events of September 11 every year, we celebrated the good events that make us the greatest nation in the world? What if we had live coverage all day about how we liberated concentration camps during WWII? What if we aired programs that showed the world what the United States has done for humanity? What if we broadcast a running tally of all of the aid we’ve sent to hurting and dying people around the globe? What if we sent pictures of Americans on the shores of foreign lands protecting the hurting, the broken, those who are unable to protect themselves? What if we threw our status as a superpower back in the faces of the terrorists on September 11 every year and said to them, “You can’t beat us!”?

Then it occurred to me: the devil constantly reminds us of what he’s done to make us fall short. He’s always telling us where we’ve failed, where we’ve fallen short in our marriage, parenting, or career. The devil is like the Taliban of the spiritual realm. He’s a coward and he is nothing compared to our God! The Bible says that Satan is like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8), meaning that he isn’t really a lion at all! But Jesus, He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5).

So how fitting for it to be that Psalm 9:11 tells us to proclaim to all the nations what He [God] has done. If you’re not sure what Jesus has done, here’s a start. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life. He never sinned, He never failed. Jesus healed the sick, made the blind see, gave the deaf hearing, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. Jesus bore the sins of man on His shoulders, the diseases of our bodies on His back, and went to the Mountain of Calvary where He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to atone for everything man has ever done, is doing, or will do. He made an exchange before God on our behalf imparting His righteousness to us and taking our sin upon Himself (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ restored our status with God and justified us through His blood.

Thank you, Beth, for the insight!