“It’s time to move on,” Molly Albert said. “My world has been forever changed,” Christina Bibby remarked. The national conversation goes on.

    Interviews with “people-on-the-street” flow through The New York Times, Time, Newsweek, and the broadcast giants—ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN keep us on edge everyday with features on international terrorists, homeland security, SDA (a missile defense shield), and the numerous vulnerabilities America has. To my mind what happened on 9-11-2001 forever stands as a symbol of a violent and unpredictable world. What can we think, do, or say when we all have a level of anxiety or uncertainty? Seared into our soul is the value of each person God has created. But we also know the evil that drives one person to kill another. How can we maintain hope?

What happened on 9-11-2001 forever stands as a symbol of a violent and unpredictable world.

    The one year anniversary of 9-11 is very painful. Some say, “We should remember”, others say, “Life goes on”. Many seek comfort in the escape of entertainment: TV, movies, ballgames, gambling, drinking and partying. Why do they do this? It keeps them from having to deal with the ultimate questions of life. They would rather deal with those later, not now.

    I want to offer some suggestions for keeping 9-11 deep in your heart:

1. Make the anniversary a day of kind deeds for someone who has experienced loss.

2. Pray for our leaders to make wise decisions for our safety.

3. Take special notice of the foreign born people around you. Instead of avoiding them, greet them warmly. God has taught us to be kind to strangers.

4. Consider making a financial gift to World Vision or Food for the Hungry to care for innocent children in Palestine who are suffering. They are our ministry, not our enemy.

5. Express gratitude to your local firemen and police—a note, a freshly baked cake, a personal word of thanks will be greatly appreciated.

6. Help someone around you who believes this day should hold no special meaning know that you believe differently. You believe that we should never forget!

7. Encourage your Sunday school class or group of friends to do something financially beneficial to a fatherless child of a fireman, or policeman. You might do something such as providing a summer camp scholarship.