“I’ll see you later” is a phrase uttered millions of times daily throughout the United States.  Implicit in the phrase is a confidence that all is well and that the speaker will actually be able to fulfill the promise of “seeing,” at a later time, the individual to whom the phrase is spoken.

Eight years ago, on September 11, 2001, thousands of individuals working at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the passengers of United Flight 93 were unable to keep their promises because of the actions of a small, but coordinated group of deranged individuals.  I call them deranged, because they presumably believed that their actions were achieving the Will of God.

Recorded history is replete with acts of violence, murder, war, and oppression — all carried out in the name of the Almighty.  Often times, both sides in a conflict considered that “God was on their side.”  Attitudes like these beg the question, “Does God have a side?”

I recall that, on that fateful morning, as I viewed the television images of ashen survivors fleeing the site of the fallen towers and courageous public servants rushing toward them in a largely vain attempt to save the victims, I didn’t see Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, or Buddhists — I saw only people, frightened and bewildered.  And, although I do not presume to put myself in His (I use the pronoun His without reference to God’s gender) position, maybe that’s how God sees us.

While the memory of that day fades in the minds of many Americans who will give no or only passing thought to the significance of this date on the calendar, it burns vividly and continually in the hearts and minds of those who lost loved ones.  And so, it is only fitting that each of us offer a prayer on their behalf:

May our Creator give peace to the souls of all the 9/11 victims, comfort to their bereaved families, and wisdom and insight into His Will to us all.  Amen.