A great, defining event in the death-throes of yet another great power of the Earth. There's nothing special about America in its rising, its virtue, its vice, and its falling, for the Roman republic was the same and another will come again. In the long stretch of history, God brought forth a royal lineage for the credibility of His incarnate son, He gave Greek learning to the Church, Roman law, and now American liberty. Each taught the Church something new, and faded away. 9/11 pushed America over the brink into a worldwide defensive war against an undefined ideological enemy, "the enemies of liberty". The Romans had the same tragedy, in the slaughter at the Battle of the Teutoburg forest, which spurned them on to conquer those Germanic tribes, "the enemies of the Roman peace". The cycle continues, until the mystery of iniquity is worked out and the mystery of godliness is fulfilled. In the end 9/11 is nothing compared to the crime of the crucifixion, for that was a crime which saved us all. 9/11 was only truly important for the lives of about 3019 people who went to their maker and judge that day. In world history, it was the end of another great power, by excess of reaction. Another shall come, until God's plan is fulfilled. See history in the whole span, read Ephesians chapter 1, and don't be afraid.
Anna asked for our thoughts on this 9/11 anniversary. I gave my thoughts, and there they are. What do you want, a "kill the terrorists", a "Democrats are pacifists", or a "stupid George Bush"?
Give to the departed eternal rest. Let light perpetual shine upon them. I pray for those whose lives were taken, for those who died in the conflicts that followed, for the families of the departed, for the persecuted Church in Iraq & Afghanistan, and for the leadership of this nation & its military. I pray for peace, reconciliation, and the rule of law.
The souls of beautiful men and women were clearly visible to us on that day; heroic men who sacrificed themselves, people who showed what the world could be like, in face of evil, sin, and death, which sometimes rules tyrannically over our earth.
Well Anna, if you just wanted patriotic hero-and-villain stuff, you should've said so. I guess I should've expected, from popular culture and associations, that no one sincerely makes a 9/11 thread for philosophical and theological comfort, just for more clichés. Obviously it was an evil act, and innocent people died, but why not get beyond that? See God in it???
Anna, you don't have to feel that my every post must be debated over. I gave my thoughts about 9/11's place in history on this anniversary day, as you asked.
I pray for the souls of all those who departed this life that day and I pray for souls of all those who have died since as a flow on of those events. I also pray for the families and friends of those who lost their lives as well. A number of my fellow employees were either travelling in the aircraft or on consulting tasks at the WTC at the time, we lost 12 in all.