Talking to my girls about 9/11...

This morning, upon realizing the date, I turned on the news. I expect to see coverage of the events of twelve years ago today, and I was not disappointed. Fox News was airing clips of their live news coverage of the events of that heartrending day. I watched what I had watched twelve years ago with my husband of less than four months from the couch in our first apartment. I watched people running down the street covered in ash, dirt, dust, and blood. I watched burning buildings. I watched people being interviewed about what they saw as they escaped from what was for so many a deathtrap. I listened as Tom Brokaw spoke with utter shock as he described the events taking place. Although it was too early to know the cause behind the destruction, he knew, as did we all, that our lives would never be the same again.

As I remembered this day twelve years ago (as well as the same day last year), I debated whether or not to say anything to my children about it. They had finished breakfast, gotten dressed and were waiting for me to start homeschool with them. Just as my day started with such normality twelve years ago before hearing the news so did their day begin today. Just as I had gone about my morning as a newlywed believing life was great, my girls were laughing and playing while oblivious to the pain currently being experienced by so many.

I decided to tell my girls about the day so I called them into my bedroom and allowed them to watch a few brief moments of news coverage before turning the television off.

But what should I say to a five and a seven year old that would not give them needless nightmares or fears about air travel or tall buildings? What did I want them to understand and learn?

I didn’t go into detail about the terrorists’ religious backgrounds or about exactly how they carried out their wicked plan, but here is what I decided to explain...

 

Today is a sad day for many people in our country because it is when we remember that twelve years ago there were certain people who hated our country so much that they chose to murder people that they did not even know. There were 2,977 people murdered, around 6,000 people injured, and countless lives forever affected by the loss and pain.

 We may not be able to understand how they could do such a thing, but… What does the Bible say about this hatred?

 

Jesus tells us in the Bible that hating a person is a sin just like murdering a person is a sin (Matthew 5:21-22). We are told that the hate in our heart is the same as if we were murdering them in our heart even if we were not doing it in real life. “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer” (1 John 3:15).

 

If we have anger in our heart towards someone we need to evaluate our attitude to see if the anger is honoring to God (righteous anger against sin) or if our anger is selfish and proud. If our attitude is wrong we need to pray that the Lord would change our heart so that we can honor Him. It is so important to pray for this help because we cannot change our heart on our own. This change can only take place by the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ for their salvation.

 

[The girls have been memorizing a catechism so many of these questions/answers are familiar to them. I intend to blog about this in the future.]

Q. 40. Who can change a sinner's heart?

A. The Holy Spirit alone.

John 3:3; Romans 8:6-11; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13,14; Titus 3:5,6

Q. 59. Can you repent and believe by your own power?

 A. No - I cannot do anything good unless the Holy Spirit enables me.

John 3:5,6; 6:44; Romans 8:2,5,8-11; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; Galatians 5:17,18; Ephesians 2:4-6)

Q. 60. How can you get the help of the Holy Spirit?

 A. God will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.

(Luke 11:9-13; John 4:10; 16:24)

 

Whom do you know in the Bible who allowed his anger to turn into hate which spilled out of his heart into real murder? Cain (Genesis 4:2-8). God saw Cain’s heart as the selfish anger began to grow and warned Cain to bring his attitude into check so that the sin would not rule in his heart and life. Cain did not heed the LORD’s warning but allowed the anger to grow into sin leading to murder which resulted in the worst punishment of being sent away from the LORD’s presence (Genesis 4:14,16).

So if hatred is a wrong attitude then what kind of attitude should we have?

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-- even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:3-8)

 

Even though He is God, Jesus Christ was willing to die for our sins because of His great love for us (Romans 5:8). This is the opposite attitude of the hatred that leads to murder or destruction.

We all sin, and we all have bad attitudes at times. When we do we need to allow the LORD to change our heart and our thoughts.

 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

God created us for His own glory, and we can give glory to Him by loving and obeying Him (catechism questions 1, 3, and 4). His rules are not to be mean, inconvenient or burdensome to us. Instead He gave us these rules of how to act and what heart attitude to have because He knows that it is the best for our lives. He knows that obeying Him brings about blessing for us and that disobeying (sinning) causes death and destruction for us and those around us…just as happened on September 11, 2001.

­­­I know there are countless other issues that can be brought up as we reflect on the memory of this day in history. Our political and economic landscapes have changed as a result of that day. Families and friends will forever miss their lost loved ones. Freedoms have been taken away from the citizens of our country as a preventative measure against future attacks, and yet political correctness requires that we not give scrutiny to those groups with which the terrorists aligned themselves. Questions can be raised about why bad things happen and where God is when they do. There are practical lessons to learn about how best to respond to catastrophic events in an attempt to save lives and provide immediate relief to those hurting and long-term comfort for those who continue to mourn.

There will come a time, as they grow older, when I will teach my girls about the earthly results of the attack of September 11^th as well as about the deeper theological questions that are naturally raised. However, for now I wanted them to examine the heart. What led to the devastation? Was it Islamic terrorism or was it preeminently rooted in sin? Ultimately I say sin. Sin is at the heart of each tragedy and sorrow regardless of what form it takes. That same sin is in my heart, the hearts of my girls, and the hearts of all of humankind except by the cleansing of the blood of Jesus Christ who has the power and authority to forgive sin, cleanse us from all unrighteousness and give us the hope of a sanctified life enjoying His presence for all of eternity if only we have faith in Him as LORD (Romans 3:23-28, 1 John 1:8-10, Matthew 9:6 and Mark 2:10, John 17, Romans 5).