Remember how fleeting is my life.
For what futility you have created all humanity!
Who can live and not see death,
or who can escape the power of the grave?
Psalm 89:47–48
When I realized that this blog would post on September 11, my mind jumped back to this day in 2001. I was living in a high-rise apartment building in Arlington, Virginia—less than five miles from the Pentagon. Like many of you, I was shocked and confused watching the tragedy unfold on T.V. When American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, I wondered if my life was in danger on the 17th floor.
I have visited the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. I’ve wandered the banks of Normandy and wept at the American Cemetery and World War II Memorial in France. And I’ve toured the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. They all left me feeling sad and vulnerable.
Memorials are erected to foster collective empathy, to remind people of their history, and to provide a space for the living to connect with the past. They are as relevant today as ever. When Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan, God called for a memorial to be built. Joshua appointed 12 men—one from each tribe—to carry out God’s order.
“Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.
Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number
of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, What do these stones mean?’
tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant
of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.
These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
—Joshua 4:5-7
I don’t wish to be morbid, but memorials always remind me that life is unpredictable, that evil is real, and that humankind tends to choose war over peace.
On the world stage, Russia continues to bomb Ukraine. Most recently, the U.S. accused Iran of supplying Russia with short-range ballistic missiles, which Iran has denied. Since this war started in February of 2022, over 11,000 civilians and close to 70,000 Ukrainian troops have become casualties of war.
Last October, Hamas gunmen stormed across the Gaza border into Israel; they killed close to 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Israel responded with air and military strikes that have left over 33,000 Palestinians dead. No end appears in sight.
The violence and destruction across the globe extends well beyond these two, well-publicized wars.
Haitian and Kenyan police continue to battle violent gangs and corrupt government officials in the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.
Approximately 14 million people are at risk of starvation and disease in Yemen due to a drawn-out civil war.
Under Taliban rule, living conditions in Afghanistan are ranked the worst in the world. Women are banned from work and education, and they are prohibited from going out in public without a male chaperone.
Damascus, the capital of Syria, has held the title of the world’s least livable city for eleven years due to instability of war. Approximately two-thirds of the population lives in poverty.
Though I could go on, I’ll stop here.
There is a vast world beyond our own front doors that is broken and hurting. We can turn a blind eye to the devastation and say that problems on the other side of the world don’t concern us—but they do—or, at least, they should.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:24-26, “God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”
Paul was referring to Christian believers, but lest we forget, believers live all over the world—in countries that pride themselves on freedom of religion and in countries that attempt to control religious beliefs. Countries like Laos, Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, China, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, Pakistan, Eritrea, Libya, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia. According to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, “thirteen Christians a day were killed for their faith in 2023.”
Twenty-three years ago on this day, we Americans got a taste of what it feels like to be persecuted for our Christian beliefs. This is what many of our Christian brothers and sisters living in heathen countries experience daily.
It’s easy to overlook what is happening around the world when we are caught up in our own lives, distracted by work, focused on school, preoccupied with the upcoming presidential election, and zoned out on social media. But just because we don’t experience persecution firsthand does not mean we are excused from caring for those who do.
On this day, which serves as a tragic reminder of evil in the world, let us reflect on the words Jesus shared. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). Lest we forget, our enemies are also our neighbors, which is why Jesus also taught, “You have heard it said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:43-45).
I encourage you to WATCH as you listen to the song I linked on YouTube below. Then set up a memorial in your hearts to remember and pray daily for those who suffer around the world. May we never forget. “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18).
THE SONG THAT COMES TO MIND is People of the Cross by Selah.
Favorite lyric: “We are the people of the cross. We choose Christ and count all else as loss.”
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