“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
– John 15:13
Less than three years after the 9/11 terrorists attacks against our country, I arrived at the Pentagon for a 3-year tour. By then, the physical damage had been repaired, although building renovations were still ongoing.
Not long after my arrival, I went to meet with a senior officer from the Army’s G-1 personnel office. While waiting in a reception area, I struck up a conversation with the secretary and asked about her 9/11 experience. I knew that the Army G-1 had sustained a direct hit, killing 29 people, including their leader, Lieutenant General Timothy Maude.
The woman I spoke with survived that day because she was away from her desk at the time of impact. In a large computer room, while on her way to run an errand, she felt the impact and was knocked to the floor. In total darkness and with smoke filling the room, she knew she had to get out. Rattled and disoriented, she didn’t know which way “out” was.
Suddenly, she heard a reassuring voice in the darkness.
“Grab a hold of my waistband. We’re going to crawl out of here.”
The voice belonged to a Sailor, who was on his way to the Pentagon gym at the time of the attack. The woman complied, and the two of them slowly crawled through the smoke and rubble.
At one point he asked her how she was doing. Her main issue was the snot and soot coming out of her nose. The Sailor pulled off his sweatshirt so she could wipe the snot and grime off her face.
They eventually made their way out of the building. The Sailor quickly left her with his Navy sweatshirt and she never saw him again. She suspects he may have gone back into the building to help others. Although she doesn’t know his name, she said she will forever be grateful to him for guiding her out of the building, and perhaps saving her life, on that fateful day.
The note from the margin reads: Lessons from 9/11…
1. Be a hero. Thousands of heroes were revealed on 9/11 and the days that followed. We found them among the World Trade Center and Pentagon personnel, rushing to save themselves and others. We found them in a group of strangers who teamed up to take back United Flight 93, preventing the plane from killing an untold number of U.S. Capitol personnel. We found heroes in the firefighters and other first-responders who rushed toward danger to help others. Many lost their own lives in the process.
In John 15:13, Jesus highlights a special kind of hero: one who loves his friends enough to lay down his life for them. Jesus raised the bar higher. He laid down his life not just for his friends but for his enemies. He suffered a cruel death for those who despised and rejected him. While I’m confident I would lay down my life for my family, and most likely for my friends, I’m not so sure about my enemies. That’s another thing that sets Jesus apart and makes him the hero among heroes.
You may never have the opportunity to be a hero in such a dramatic and public way as those who emerged on 9/11. But, every day, we have an opportunity to do good for others. Paul, in Galatians 6:9-10, states, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
2. Live each day as if it were your last. Psalm 90:10 reads, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” The psalmist reminds us of the difficulty and brevity of life. We are mortal and, in the context of eternity, have but a few days. (See Job 14:1 and Psalm 90:12) James puts it this way: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
On the morning of 9/11, I doubt any of the victims gave much thought to the idea that it would be their final morning on earth. We don’t like to think about such things, and yet, we all have that date with destiny. As such, we must make “the most of every opportunity.” (Ephesians 5:16)
Jesus drives the point home in Matthew 24:42-44: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
3. Get back up when you get knocked down. The 9/11 terrorist attacks knocked our nation to its knees, but we rebounded stronger and more united than ever. The Army secretary who shared her story with me represents thousands of survivors and next of kin who had to literally or figuratively crawl on their hands and knees in darkness until they found the light.
Faithful Christians can expect to get knocked down from time to time. In 2 Timothy 3:12, we read, “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Our response to being knocked down and persecuted is found in Proverbs 24:16: “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”
In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 Paul, who faced his fair share of persecution, concludes, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
9/11/01…may we learn the lessons and never forget.
