We use the phrases “Never forget” and “We will always remember” but there is a generation that only knows what we tell them we experienced. In 12-18 months, the first U.S. soldier will be deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan that wasn’t alive on September 11, 2001. They only know what they see in documentaries and network news specials.
They also only know the current climate of political hostility and hatred. They’ve only experienced the amplified differences between black and white, Republican and Democrat, citizen and non-citizen. They never lived through September 12, 2001.
It’s quite possible that the most important thing you can do today is to tell your September 12 story to the next generation.
They need to know that people smiled at each other. Strangers gave each other that “knowing nod” regardless of race or skin color. Republicans held the door open for Democrats. And they stood arm in arm singing “God Bless America.” Kindness ruled the day on September 12.
The next generation needs to know it can happen again. They must hear from you that the current social climate is not “normal.” They need hope that the world can be a better place, even in the wake of devastating destruction.
As I write this, the southeastern coast of the U.S. is bracing for Hurricane Florence. It will be a crisis that many have never witnessed before. And in the rubble of almost certain destruction, you and I will see the true heart of Americans. You will hear of courageous acts, and an abundance of compassion lived out over the days and weeks to come.
Your job, your most important activity, will be to remember what you see and experience ... and then tell your children and your children’s children. Remember. Tell your story.
“We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done ... so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;”
Psalms 78:4, 7 ESV
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