Remembrance

Do you ever have moments in time when you say or do or write something that immediately touches you so much that you can't help but think: "That must not have come from me."

I had that just now. I was on facebook, seeing so many people talk about it being September 11, and how they are remembering what happened in 2001.....and all I could think was: "Yeah, we Americans remember, but how much has it really changed us? If anything, we seem more selfish and more withdrawn than ever." (I know this isn't true of individuals, but as a whole it's what it seems like.)

So, I clicked on my status window, fully wanting to write something along those lines....but as I sat there thinking of how to say it, something softened or changed inside me, and this is what I wrote:

On this day of remembrance, lets not just remember with our words, but with our hearts as well. And remember that we're not fighting a war against a particular people, but a war against hatred. And what fights hatred better than love?!?


Reading it back brought tears to my eyes. I really don't feel like I wrote that. I feel like God grabbed my fingers and typed His message to me and to anyone who reads it. Because I don't react the way I did to my own stuff.


And, isn't it so incredibly poignant? Isn't it how our lives really should be lived? How we should treat people? Isn't it what Jesus taught?


September 11, 2001 was a day when people allowed their hatred to rule them, and alot of pain and devastation came out of it. And yet, when we allow ourselves to hate back the people involved, or even innocent people who only share an ethnic background with them, aren't we doing exactly what they did? Allowing hate to rule us, allowing hate to win?


So, today I applaud the people who have allowed Love to stem from what happened that day. The people who have sacrificed their lives in the right war.


I am NOT speaking against the brave men and women in our military. Many of those who have lost their lives, many who are across oceans right now are fighting for the right cause. They get it. They strive to protect the innocent people who are simply trying to survive in a war torn world. I hear the stories, I know it's true. 


But for those who are simply promoting and prolonging hate....I pray that God would soften their hearts to see what's really happening, what's really important. 


Love is what combats hate. Jesus showed us that when He died for us. When He rose. And He calls us to love everyone, even our enemies.....because LOVE COMBATS HATE. It is the only thing that can.


And so, as we choose to remember, let us also choose to love and to forgive. For only these can win the war.


For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12