09/10/2026
That Tuesday Morning
By Elaine Hall
“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their lands.” II Chronicles 7:14
September 11th, 2001. Most people born by the mid-1980s can recount where they were, what they were doing, and who told them about the worst terrorist attack on US soil. They describe their disbelief, horror, and shock. For days, the nation sat paralyzed in front of its television screens as the acceptance sank in that America was not invincible. People were hungry for updates about their loved ones. News reporters, accompanied by videographers, broadcast live what they witnessed. Whether firemen running into those burning buildings, waiters trapped in a restaurant at the top of the North Tower, or passengers on those four ill-fated jets, every life was precious; every loss a tragedy. After the planes struck the towers, communication was spotty. People used landlines or their brand-new Nokia flip phones. Husbands and wives called home or work to leave messages for what could – and sometimes would -- be the last chance to say, “I love you”.
Not everyone experienced the devastation firsthand: one man had car trouble; another took his turn to buy the office donuts; one lady had a shoe problem that required a trip back home. Of those who escaped the horror, many suffered survivor’s guilt that still haunts them. On that fateful day, Americans emotionally connected with the victims with patriotism
and love. Our mantra became, “What can I do to help?”
The streets and the countryside erupted with the spirit of generosity. Acts of kindness were not random, but thoughtful, specific, and moved by compassion for the families the victims left behind. Whether by donations of money, goods/merchandise, food, water, utilizing their born-of-sorrow skills on site, everyone aspired to be of service. Weeks after 9/11, a poll from the Pew Research Center reported that people prayed more often. By November of 2001, seventy-eight percent of Americans said religious influence in their lives had increased to the highest level in four decades.
A quarter-century later, everything has flipped upside down. A generation has grown up with no dads to walk their daughters down the aisle. Sons have matured without moms’ support when he graduated summa cm laude, made the winning touchdown, or won the art competition. Those deaths left gaps at dining room tables where surviving spouses missed the loves of their lives on holidays, celebrations, large and small, as well as all those lonely evenings with no one to hold on to. And all the while, the tide was turning.
On the “9/11: United We Stand – 25 Years Later” special presentation on September 1st, of this year, television host and political commentator George Stephanopolous noted near the end of the broadcast that “the (2001) level of compassion has not survived”. We hardly recognize those givers of themselves who wanted only to support the murdered or injured in those towers, at the Pentagon, and on that Pennsylvania field where heroes went down fighting. From Denver to Detroit, Minneapolis to Miami, rebellion fills the airwaves and the streets. People accuse others of wrongdoing, yet seldom face the responsibility of their own actions. Warring political opinions have escalated and divided brothers and sisters, mothers and daughters, sons and fathers, and torn apart the fabric of the family, who no longer speak to one another. When did redemption regress into rage?
After the tragedy on that Tuesday morning, Americans went from proudly waving the US flag to protesting opposing views by burning or desecrating it. The dangerous mix of being easily offended combined with hair-trigger tempers results in violence. According to the AAA Foundation, road rage has sharply increased in the last decade and accounts for sixty-six percent of traffic fatalities and almost thirteen thousand injuries each year. The most recent FBI report reveals that domestic abuse cases continue to rise. Unchecked anger even spills over onto the sports field where adults attack little kids over a suspected misjudged call!
By September 12th, 2001, our nation had changed to one of brotherly love. Though God must have mourned the calculated cruelty of the acts of terrorism that stole those 2,977 precious lives, the hardening of the hearts of His people may grieve Him now. Yet, His promise remains: “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone...and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.
Be the change. Step up. Step out. Remember the date that is burned into our brains with the same compassion you felt for every single victim twenty-five years ago. Remove the focus from your own little orbit. Reacquaint yourself with the passion of the Savior. Increase your church attendance or start going to a new one. Take your family. Invite your friends.
Be generous with your time and resources: make sure that scruffy little boy has a new pair of shoes to replace the ones falling off his feet. Teach your children the importance of loving your neighbor by including them in raking autumn leaves in the widow’s yard. Take a hot meal and a listening ear to an elderly widower, who still misses his wife. On issues where there is no middle ground, promote peace by politely agreeing to disagree, then walk away. Now, more than ever, the world needs His light to shine through you in the darkness.
Open wide the door to God; be humble, seek and turn back to Him. Then pray – please, Lord -- heal our land.
