It’s no secret that I love NYC. I think it’s one of the most beautiful and vibrant places I’ve ever visited. I’ve had the immense honor of visiting Ground Zero and the 9/11 Memorial and Museum more than once. Yet, I only have a few photos. It’s not a place where you pull out your phone to snap dozens of fun touristy pics. It’s a place, that even on the most beautiful of days, carries a weight and solemnity that cannot adequately be described or conveyed in words. It’s a place of mourning and hope … of heartbreak and healing.
It would be easy to wake up on this Monday morning and get busy doing all the things on a very long to-do list. I would be easy to shove that day, 22 years ago, to the back of my mind … to not think about sitting on the sofa, in my tiny apartment living room, with my roommates and watching the towers fall. To not think about the grief and the heartache that came with that day. To not recall the fear and uncertainty that followed. But if I choose to ignore the memories … to shut them down and out, I also choose to ignore the beauty from the ashes of that day. The tears mingled with hope. The comfort found as we came together as one nation under God.
It’s a day and an experience I hope and pray we never have to relive in America. To this day, I pray and grieve for those who lost loved ones on what is one of the most tragic days in United States history. The passage of time cannot erase the losses of that day 22 years ago. And yet, we must remember. History forgotten is dangerous. History not acknowledged is history that will be repeated. May we never forget what happened that day, and may we also remember who we were in the aftermath … a country heartbroken but united … devastated but not decimated.
“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Courtney's Contemplations . . . 