Where were you on 9-11?

I was driving my son Stephen to the school bus stop in lower Somerset @ 7am. When he left the car, I turned on sports radio and heard Mitch Levy talking about the world trade center having been hit by an airplane--I thought it was a sports radio prank at first.

Back at home, I shouted to Lynne to look at the news and I'm assuming we tuned into CNN. We were seeing a replay without really being aware of it and, not knowing that the towers were coming down or that even a second plane had hit, felt the incredulous shock of seeing the second tower struck and the awful instantaneous realization that this was no accident.

Six years later, despite the din of military and political debate regarding our subsequent retaliation, one undeniable reality looms large: we live in a world in which Satan is real and evil--not just sin, but deliberate evil-- is at work. Hearts can be darkened, consumed with hatred and resentment, and go places none of us want to countenance.

And so, where are you on 9-11? Wanting comfort and ease, do we see the world, including our Seattle cocoon, through lenses of "peace, peace, where there is no peace," or do we daily don the full armor of God, humbled by our own sin, yet ready to take our stand against evil, calling it by its name, and fighting with spiritual weapons to help cleanse the souls of men? Say a prayer today for the victims of 9-11, and say a prayer for yourself--a prayer of rededication to the fight that must precede eternal peace.