Swift, mindless, and violent retribution. That's what tends to come to mind when everything we love is put into danger. From Walking Tall to The Patriot the message from Hollywood is that you hurt those who endanger you and yours, and that revenge is justified and noble. I'm thankful that on 9-11, I saw behavior that looked nothing like Hollywood. On that day and the days that followed there was a vision of hope on campuses as well.
I had been in the D. C. area for about a week conducting outreaches on several campuses. Harvey and Sally Herman were city directors there, and I was staying at their place. That morning a prayer meeting was scheduled and campus missionaries had begun to arrive. I fired up my trusty MacBook and logged onto AOL (yes, those were some of the early days of the Internet). As the welcome screen came up, there was a picture of one of the World Trade Centers and the now famous gaping, smoking hole. We turned on the television just as the second tower was struck. There was the Pentagon strike, close enough that we heard and felt the impact, and the nervous hours until all the remaining planes were accounted for.
The prayer meeting went on, but the agenda had radically changed.
The images of destruction will never be forgotten. The collapsing towers, the sight of the Pentagon smoking for several days, the military personnel who could bear to look as we passed the broken building, and the military Humvees on every corner. But it was the student response that was a hopeful surprise.
Very quickly after the disaster there was a fear of violent retribution toward anyone of Middle Eastern descent. The first reports, though, were not of violence but of American students seeking out Middle Eastern students to form protective shields for them. In most cases, those were Christian students.
There was a need for food, clothing, and blankets for those displaced by the disaster. College students went to work and had begun collecting supplies while most of the country was still sorting out what had happened.
Chaplains on campus began collecting people together to process what had happen. I was part of a crowd of thousands at American University. Around me I could hear people talking about family members and friends that worked in the Trade Center or the Pentagon that had not been heard from. I heard people remark that they had been bumped off the fatal flight from D.C. I was amazed by the close connection between D.C. and the people of New York. This was personal.
The Christian and Jewish chaplains worked together with the Islamic chaplain. The goal that day among Christians was to make sure that Jesus' teachings were upheld: "You have heard that it was 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. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mat 5:43-48) It is interesting that it was people of faith who did the most to comfort, unite, and mobilize people on campus.
I returned to American University one year later to publicly discuss the differences between Islam and Christianity with an Imam. The strongest difference is that the god of Islam is a god of justice and judgement that will never be close or intimate with his followers - grace and mercy should not be expected. While Jesus so loved us that he got as close as possible to and demonstrated both justice and mercy by paying the price of sin through his own life. What I will remember about those first days after 9-11 is that the grace and mercy of Jesus was shown to be more powerful in a disaster than prejudice, hatred, and revenge. Hollywood was wrong and Jesus was right.
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