On this, the date that shall forever remain in our minds and hearts, Bruce offers a look back at his reflections on 9/11 as recorded in his book, Soul Storm: finding God amidst disaster. How do we make sense of the messiness of life? How do we find God’s love amidst tragedy? Does God speak to us in the difficult places?
PART TWO: DISASTER RECOVERY-REBUILDING THE SOUL
What do we make of this mess?
“Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
Who is blind but my servant,
or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as me dedicated one,
or blind as the servant of the Lord?
He sees many things, but does not observe them;
his ears are open, but he does not hear.
The Lord was pleased, for his righteousness sake,
to magnify his law and make it glorious.
But this is a people plundered and looted;
they are all of them trapped in holes and hidden in prisons;
they have become plunder with none to rescue,
spoil with none to say, “Restore!”
Who among you will give ear to this,
will attend and listen for the time to come?
Who gave up Jacob to the looter, and Israel to the plunderers?
Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned,
in whose ways they would not walk, and whose law they would not obey?
So he poured on him the heat of his anger and the might of battle;
it set him on fire all around, but he did not understand;
it burned him up, but he did not take it to heart.” (Isaiah 42:18-25)
Early on in this book I suggested that if we are to make progress in dealing with the disasters in our lives we must start by gaining a proper perspective on life as a whole. That is to say, if we are to find any credible answers to our dilemma we must ask the right questions. This idea of right questions preceding meaningful answers is not only the subject of much philosophical inquiry, it is, I believe, supported in scripture. In this passage from Isaiah, we find a very interesting scenario unfolding as we read. The spokesman of God, in this case, does not, at this moment, comfort his hearers with delightful pronouncements of blessing, abundance, success, and good fortune. Rather, the word of God to the listener is one of questioning, intense, direct, and corrective questioning. We will find comfort, covering, hope, and a future as we continue with God’s word to His people, but we must begin by evaluating what this message of discipline is intended to address. Where is God in the middle of this “natural” disaster? This is an important question, and the answer may be more unsettling than we are willing to admit. In order to gain some perspective on God’s presence in this disaster and what He may be saying, doing, and accomplishing, we must rewind the tape a bit.
September 11, 2001 was a very dark day in our national history. I recall vividly where I was, who I was with, and how people around me responded to the events as they unfolded. I was making my daily forty mile commute from the suburbs of New Orleans into the downtown central business district. Just as I was nearing the end of the Causeway bridge, (the largest in the world, spanning some twenty-four miles) NPR broke in with a sudden announcement, “A plane has crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City”. At that moment they suspected what most listeners suspected, something has gone wrong with a routine commercial airliner and a sad, though somewhat readily explainable event had just transpired”. My initials thoughts were that in the days ahead we would hear of how an engine failed, the search for the black box, and other typical crash information. Reality set in not too many minutes later, when as I was making my way into the skyscraper where I work, I heard everyone talking about the event and the unfolding drama. As I got off the elevator and walked through the doors of my office everyone had gathered in a room where we typically have our morning meetings. On this day, no such meeting was to take place. Our technology staff had quickly gotten a television signal up and running in the meeting room and our company gathered to see what was happening. Just as many of us were arriving, we witnessed the second plane make its fated and unthinkable descent into the second tower. That moment, for all of us, was a defining one, one that changed all of our lives. Or was it?
As we, and others, all across the country realized the magnitude of this event unfolding before our eyes, pain, horror, shock, numbness, and fear set in. I looked around that room that day and watched carefully and thoughtfully as many of my peers wept. Just like those in the towers that day, we were a company populated, largely, with well-to-do brokers and employees. With all the security of substantial incomes, travel, big houses, and the benefits that the “American Dream” offered, few of us were really considering the ultimate issues in life. That changed in an instant on 9/11. On that day, Americans became a more thoughtful, spiritually minded, and sober people. Even away from New York City, as Americans, we found it hard to focus, work, or play. The tales of those who lived in the Big Apple at the time of the disaster speak of the world’s most vibrant city coming to a stand still. Entertainment, ball games, dining-it all came to a screeching halt. What seemed so crucial to our lives beforehand just lost its brilliance amidst the darkness of that day. News stories around the country told of Americans renewed concern over spiritual matters and ultimate issues. Pulpits across the country suggested that our attentions, amidst the pain, would be turned back to God and an American revival of the soul would make us better, stronger, more God-centered.
Shortly after the tragic befalling of our national monuments, monuments to our superiority economically, democratically, and militarily, I led a prayer service in our office building. The President had just called for a national day of prayer, and I was asked to lead a service for people in our office. As the preparations were being made the event extended beyond our office and eventually became an event for our entire building. Some 200 people showed up for that service. During the service I and several others read prayers we had prepared or shared some thoughts we thought we important in light of the occasion. We showed slides with images, stills of the unfolding of the disaster. The images were vivid and still remain in my heart and soul to this day. There were images of a city in ruins, people falling or jumping from windows, the latter just making a decision on the better most expedient way to die in that moment of terror. We left that service in silence. We left with a prayer in our hearts for God to turn our hearts toward Him in the midst of such unfathomable tragedy. And I honestly think many left that service with a prayer to God that He would cause them to live a different, a better life.
In 9/11 we saw just how desperate life on this planet can become amidst seemingly mindless evil. But it was not our first glimpse of that reality, and it was not our last. The American psyche dealt with this kind of thing at Pearl Harbor, and more recently we have dealt with it at Columbine, and Oklahoma City. Each time we are dealt a blow of this magnitude we see and hear reports, studies, and pronouncements that America will grieve, but she will come back more thoughtful, spiritual, and resilient. And each time, I think, we all hope that is indeed the case. But is it? Is it true that after the initial pain, shock, horror, grieving and processing of these events that we come back better people? And if not, how do we accomplish this? If we fail to become a more God-minded people, are there consequences? Does God intend to speak to us amidst these disasters and the disasters of our lives? If so, what is he saying? Is God, in keeping with His loving character as a good Heavenly Father, determined to teach His children to follow hard after Him even if that requires an increased form of discipline for those hard of hearing? These questions, I believe, are critical for our future as people and as a country. These questions, and the answers to them, I suggest, determine where we will end up and what our future will look like.
At the outset, I suggested that I am not another of those “hell, fire and brimstone” preacher types. I maintain the position that I am not one of the dreaded, much maligned, and “stereotypical” doomsday pulpit shouters. Parenthetically, however, I must remind the reader that in scripture we do find God sending spokespersons to be trumpeters of divine wrath. A word of clarification as to what I am suggesting and what I am not suggesting should be given here. What I am offering is the possibility that many events in our nations recent past, and most recently hurricane Katrina, are intended by God to wake us up from our habitual neglect of pursuing life lived under the direct gaze of a holy, loving, and life sustaining Creator. What I am not suggesting is that I know for sure, or that “God has told me directly” that hurricane Katrina has been sent directly by Him, at this moment, for the specific cause of bringing judgment upon America for its lack of holiness and all of its offenses. America is indeed lacking in its degree of passion for a holy national life, and as Americans we certainly are guilty of many breeches of God’s directives. The depths of our transgressions as a nation are readily apparent, and should not be taken lightly. The reality is that God is always calling us to a more committed life, and when His message is not getting through, He turns up the volume. The reality, I fear, despite the numerous opportunities for America to “hear” God’s call to a better way, is that we are not hearing, we are not seeing with spiritual eyes what God is attempting to show us. In the days since 9/11 we have drifted back to our idolatrous ways. Desperate House Wives is our favorite television program, racial tensions continue to mount, our thirst remains for pleasure, and our devoted rage against any form of absolute truth continues. We aspire to promote the tolerance of all things without any regard for the destruction that certain tolerations bring to families and souls. The murdering of the unborn and the abandonment of any credible definition of family leaves us a nation on the verge of ever increasing societal disaster. Might God be speaking to us in these days through the events we see unfolding before us, personally and as a country? May we have ears to hear the Spirit of God upon the winds coming our way. At a minimum, in this disaster and any disaster we may face personally, is it not true that God wishes to teach us something about ourselves? Pain, suffering, and loss always bring us to a place of reevaluation, questioning, and consideration of ultimate reality. Has God intended it so? Let’s get back to Isaiah.
Listen Up!
In the passage from Isaiah, we find a God who has immense love for His chosen people. The nation Israel, as history and scripture proclaim, was, in God’s plan for the world, the people through whom God chose to establish His plan for all of humanity. History is replete with the dialogue, controversy, and horror stemming from this proposition. In order to avoid going into a book length exposition of Israel’s place in the divine plan and in history, we must assume here, for the sake of argument that this nation does indeed fit into God’s redemptive plan as a crucial hinge-point. Assuming then that Israel is under the blessing and obligation of this reality, it is important to know what God expects of His people with regard to how they follow the plan. The passage from Isaiah clearly reveals that somewhere along the road God’s chosen nation had independently decided to take a detour. This nation, promised great blessing by a loving God, made the conscious decision to create a new map, one in direct conflict with the one given to them by their leader. Apparently, like the huge neon orange and white striped signs we see on the road at major road repair construction sites, God had sent warning after warning. At every turning point God had placed caution signs that were repeatedly ignored by His people. God’s call to His people was not being heard. His warnings were not registering with a people more concerned with the trappings around them. His people had grown confident in their own plans, desires, pursuits, and ideologies. God decided it was time to send a call loud and clear. By God’s design, the emergency horn would sound louder and louder until heard. God’s love, in discipline, would make an attempt to get His children back on the road to recovery. But, one might ask, “Is that truly loving”?
It would seem to make sense that just as any financial counselor who truly has a client’s interests in mind would lay out a clear game plan for success, so too would a caring parent who wants the best for a child, lay out a plan for healthy growth and development. Any good doctor, aware of an individual’s reckless behavior, would go to lengths to warn his patient of the risk involved in chemical abuse of any kind; drugs, alcohol, steroids, nicotine, and the like. Likewise, a good judge, probation officer or counselor would warn a paroled defendant of the future peril awaiting should one go back to a former way of life. Common sense would inform us that, if indeed, God loved His people He would want to present to them a plan for life that could be followed and which offered them the opportunity for blessing. Further, any good financial planner, coach, boss, or parent would want to point out the pitfalls along the way to prevent major disaster. We see just how committed we are to this idea in the stories we read about Enron, World-Com, and so many other business scams. No one would think it sensible or morally defensible for a person in leadership to intentionally lead those under their care astray. Why would we then expect anything less of God? Any good parent, we would contend, would discipline a child that was in danger of causing harm to themselves or others through willful disobedience. Unloving parents are those who abandon their children, leaving them without means for provision, care, love and direction. Worse, are those parents that would intentionally mislead their children, knowing full well, that destruction would be the result for following the path put in place. Moreover, any good parent or leader would provide a means to follow the plan, reinforce the plan with the promise of blessings that derive form following the blueprint, and provide warnings and discipline for deviation from the plan. The warnings and discipline, of course, are intended to “bring us to our senses” and get us back on track. Could God be speaking to America? Does He use “natural” disasters to reveal a sickness of soul to those He cares about? Is there something we are missing? Why do we fail to see God’s hand at work?
The problem we find ourselves in as citizens of the world’s one remaining super-power, is that we no longer want to embrace a common sense view of morality, let alone spiritual sense, unless it fits into our own pursuit of pleasure and comfort. Our view of spirituality, even within some churches, has grown so decidedly contrary to God’s plan that He has no choice but to raise the volume on His call to us. God’s own “church” in America has come so closely to resemble the culture at large that in many settings the church is not discernable from the culture in which it operates. That culture, given a rich heritage of blessing and providence by God, has for some time, been turning a deaf ear to the warnings of God.
Just as God had warned Israel of the folly in turning away from Him to the worship of false Gods, so we in America have turned to the idols of sensuality, the false security of riches, addiction to pleasure, and the astonishing craving for the renouncement of absolute truth. As Americans we want desperately, against all common sense, to suggest that all truths are equal even when they contradict one another. This kind of moral, intellectual, and spiritual suicide, like the doctrine of assisted suicide, is beginning to show its consequences. The outcome of such thinking, indeed belief, is a society in moral and civil decay before our very eyes. “In God we trust”, a now debated doctrine in our halls of justice, is on the verge of becoming extinct. We cry out for God’s help amidst disaster, yet, we have systematically removed Him from our schools and public forums. The “right” of women to choose has trumped the doing of the “right”. We should be aware that the worship of the right to choose will reap, perhaps, a morbid consequence down the line when those who choose the termination of the unborn early in life are eventually called upon to choose whether or not to care for the elderly when they are frail, economic, and emotional burdens. A trampling of the sanctity of life now very well may end in the trampling of an entire generation of people. When created beings hold their “right” to be supreme, all sensible moral restraint is at risk. The whim of individuals to choose and the retreat from absolute truth is a war raged against reason.
The struggle to live rightly has been replaced by a battle against the “right” side of the political spectrum.
When is it ever right to choose wrong, I must ask? What happens if my desire for choosing contradicts all rational and moral judgment? What if rational and moral judgment itself is defined a thousand or a million different ways? Who is right when no one wants to say that right exists? The proliferation of the “truth” that no absolute truth exists is, literally, non-sense. One cannot absolutely pronounce that no truth exists. The very suggestion is contradictory and without logical basis. Yet, here we are in America, a “Christian” nation, and we find, even in the finest of our academic institutions, this whole hearted embrace of intellectual, moral, and spiritual bankruptcy. This kind of “free” thinking is the very curriculum for our developing leaders and has been for far too long. Is it any wonder we see, in moments of great pain and desolation, looters abandoning all moral restraint, while their city lies in waste? Rather than looking for a way to help those drowning in the rising waters, the “Americans” were taking all they could get at an opportune moment. But it was their choice, was it not? Who is to say it was right or wrong? Who draws the lines? Where are the boundaries?
That brings us back to Isaiah. The message from this spokesman of God was simple and direct. According to God, His people had moved beyond the boundaries of the Kingdom. In doing so, God’s people opened themselves up to a world of difficulty and decay. This decay showed up in the nation Israel in the form of war, murder, adultery, idolatry, sexual immorality, harlotry, homosexuality, neglect of the poor and spiritual distortion. These among other less than desirable qualities came to define those chosen by God to live lives of blessing, goodness and peace. Could it be, that God in His love for us as a people, a city, and a nation, has allowed, sent, or is intending to use this most recent disaster, to call us, a people similar in too many ways to the nation Israel represented in this passage from Isaiah, to a life more in line with His calling for us? Not only is it possible, but it is exactly how He has worked throughout biblical history. When people He is calling to Himself act in ways not in keeping with family life in His Kingdom, the Father extends His loving hand of discipline to bring the kids back in line and protect them from greater danger. God knows what life beyond the boundaries looks like. The farther from home we get the worse life becomes. At times the Father will increase the pressure, and sharpen the discipline to get our attention. When His children turn a deaf ear to His wisdom, He finds a way to be heard. Rather than this being a sign of His prudish inclination, it is a sign of His marvelous love and hunger for our good. Just as He assured the nation Israel that they were the “apple of His eye” so he assures us, as His people today, He is for us and not against us. He uses all things, we are told in the book of Romans, to work out His good plan for us. All things-even disaster! He will use, send, allow, mold, and make all things turn out for the good of His children! Life beyond the boundary, as the Prodigal Son found out, is no life worth pursuing. The quest for pleasure at every hand, as Solomon found out, is not enough to quench the soul. The thirst for sexuality outside of the plan of God ends in confusion, disease, psychological disarray, and broken families. In His plan, as is revealed in scripture, our sexuality finds its most exhilarating and soul inspiring fulfillment. Life on the other side of the fence, God knows, only provides different grass. Inside the boundaries of God’s playground, life and life abundantly unfolds bigger and better than any fantasy displayed on the grandest of silver screens. Inside the boundaries of God are found the boundless heights of love, joy, peace, and life everlasting! America, we must come back to God’s playground.