9/11 • 10 Years Later

“Eventually, September the 11th will be a date on the calendar. It will be like Pearl Harbor Day. For those of us who lived through it, it will be a day we’ll never forget.” – Former President George W. Bush, in an interview with the National Geographic Society, 2011

Time passes. The older I get, the more I realize that time passes, and seems to pass more quickly each year. Today’s events are tomorrow’s memories, and tomorrow’s memories soon become historical events. I was a freshman in high school during the 40th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This year marks 150 years since the start of the American Civil War. Next April will mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking.

And then there is today: The 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

The September 11th attacks are still emotion-laden memory for most of us, but it will not be many years before the events of that day become just another item in a newspaper’s “This Day in History” feature – an important item, to be sure, but, still, just another historical event, like Pearl Harbor or the Titanic.

And yet, near or far, minor or momentous, anniversaries are important. They allow us to reexamine things; things that we think, things that we feel, things that we know. And to reexamine these things in the light of what we have learned since.

I would urge you to spend some time today in quiet reflection on the events from 10 years ago. May I suggest the following video, a panel discussion from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as a “jumpstart” to your reflections?

911 Panel Discussion from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

Some Brief Thoughts on Bin Laden's Assisted Assumption of Room Temperature

I was informed by my daughter Sunday night that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I sat and watched the news with her. We watched President Obama's announcement. I saw the pictures of folks celebrating in front of the White House and in Times Square. After an hour or so, I went to bed.

It has now been a few days, and I have a few thoughts on the whole thing.

1. I was honestly surprised to discover that Osama bin Laden was actually still alive. I have thought for years that we was killed in the fighting in Afghanistan years ago. I thought that the leaders of Al Qaeda were working to keep the myth alive.


2. Osama bin Laden was a very evil man who was responsible for the deaths of thousands worldwide. He was a coward who hid in the shadows and conned others into doing his fighting for him. He deserved to die. (Genesis 9:5-6)


3. Osama bin Laden was not a criminal to be arrested and tried. He was an avowed enemy of the United States responsible for the deaths of American citizens. As such, he deserved to be hunted down and killed. He got what he had coming to him.


4. I feel a grim satisfaction that Osama bin Laden was taken down by members of the American military. Yeah, it's payback. Huah!


5. There are a lot of conflicting stories about how bin Laden died. Was he armed? Was he unarmed? Did he resist? None of it matters. Even if he surrendered, was captured alive, made to kneel down in the driveway, and executed with a shot to the back of the head, justice was done. As I have already said, he wasn't a criminal to be arrested and tried, he was an vicious animal to be put down.


6. While I have real satisfaction that an enemy of my nation has been killed, I do not celebrate his death. The dancing in the streets that I saw on the news is unseemly. Death, even when so undeniable deserved, is never to be celebrated.


7. I do not believe that we owed Osama bin Laden a burial in accordance with his religious beliefs. I think his body should have been chopped up, mixed with pork, and fed to dogs, and his head should have been spiked above the White House gate as a warning to others who might desire to take up where Osama bin Laden left off. I have no problems sending strong messages.


8. It stands to reason that, if I have no problem with the public display of his severed head, I have no problem with the release of photographs of his corpse. People have been taking photos of dead people for as long as there has been photography. The FBI used to routinely release photos of dead gangsters, such as "Baby Face" Nelson & "Pretty Boy" Floyd, in the 1930's. I don't think it's any big deal, really.


9. In his remarks Sunday night, President Obama, echoing the words of President Bush before him, said, "... our war is not against Islam." I think this just shows that we still do not understand who our enemy is, and what motivates him. I have no doubts that Islam is evil in and of itself.

These are just some of the things I've been thinking about in the wake of Sunday's news. For much more intelligent thoughts on the matter, I would direct you to Al Mohler's article from Monday.

Some Musings on the Passing of Elizabeth Taylor

"It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." Ecclesiastes 7:2

I turned on my computer this morning only to learn that Elizabeth Taylor had died at the age of 79.

I’m not a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan. (Indeed, I'm not a huge fan of any movie star.) I only own two of her movies, Ivanhoe & Cleopatra. And I only own them because they’re good movies, not because she was in them. (In fact, Cleopatra really belongs to Mrs Squirrel, and my copy of Ivanhoe is on VHS, and I've not had a working VCR in years...)

So, why am I writing about Elizabeth Taylor’s death? While I was reading her obituary this morning, it reminded me of something I’ve thought of often – what people say they want out of life.

It seems that we, humans in general & Americans in particular, admire & desire several things: beauty, wealth, & fame. These are the things that we think will make us happy in life. The entire advertising industry’s goal is to play off of these desires to make us buy things (and they’re quite good at it.) Health clubs, gymnasiums, and spas provide us with places where we can work hard to try to prolong our youthful physiques as long as possible. (I am not knocking good health. I know that I need to exercise more myself, and could probably improve my food choices.)

The sad thing is that it is clear that beauty, wealth, & fame are not able to make anyone happy or fulfilled. Indeed, a cursory examination of the headlines displayed on the magazines by the checkout stand at your local grocery store would indicate that the people who possess the beauty, wealth, and fame that everyone else desires are among the most miserable and messed up people around. (Exhibit A: Charlie Sheen. Exhibit B: Lindsay Lohan.)

There’s no doubt that Elizabeth Taylor possessed wealth & fame and, in her youth, beauty. There is also no doubt that Elizabeth Taylor lived a fairly messed up life. She had several affairs with married men, some while she was married herself. She was married and divorced multiple times. She spent time in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. In later life, she struggled with obesity. In short, Elizabeth Taylor exhibited all the hallmarks of a sinful human being.

Sadly, there’s absolutely no indication that she had repented of her sin and trusted in Christ alone for salvation. Her obituary in the New York Times makes absolutely no mention of any religious faith whatsoever.

In her life, Elizabeth Taylor possessed all the things that people think will make them happy and fulfilled, yet an examination of her life does not paint the picture of a happy and fulfilled woman. Instead, it is a portrait of an unhappy woman, struggling to find fulfillment in romance, sex, and a lifestyle of lavish self-indulgence.

Elizabeth Taylor’s passing from this life into the next is a good time to remind ourselves that true happiness and fulfillment can only be found in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12

Where am I?

Hi, everybody. Just a quick note to let you know I’ve been having a weird week.

I attended a funeral on Monday, and that has just set my whole week off kilter. I’m always disconcerted when a young person dies. I know that God is sovereign and wise, and that His decrees are good, but, from my human viewpoint, I always think about the lifetime ahead that has been lost. And it's tough to watch parents bury their child. It reminds me of what our sin has done to the whole of creation. Death truly is the last enemy!

I’m working on a couple of good posts (as opposed to the normal drivel found here,) and, of course, this week’s Nut Cache!

See you soon!