The Power and Significance of Remembrance

I am in a captive position this morning.  A broken foot limits my movements and keeps me confined to the house for now.  A scene playing out on television holds me captive as well.  One by one, the names of nearly three thousand people who lost their lives in the World Trade Centers on September 11, 2001 are being read.  Reading these names are family members of those lost on that day.  One by one they read the names of men and women they never knew, until they come to the end of their list of names, coming to the family member they still cherish, though now only in their memories.  Occasionally, a young child or teenager at the end of his or her list of names, reads the name of a parent or other family member they never met.  Their memories are only the accounts of others who have introduced their loved ones to them through stories told or pictures shown.  

 

This poignant illustration of the power and significance of remembrance should not be lost on us either as individuals or a nation.  Some relive the horror of 9/11 every day as a father, mother, spouse, sibling, or child once touchable and present to them, is no longer there.  Some still struggle to let go of images forever etched in their minds as first responders to this tragedy.  A great many of us go about our lives seemingly unaffected until this day comes up on the calendar each year, and once again, we are called to remember. 

 

Our memories serve a great purpose in the living of our days.  They are vast reserves that remind, inform, and empower.  The writer of Deuteronomy, in seeking to encourage a people who have a history that has irrevocably shaped their present and future, says, "Remember the days of old, consider the years long past..."  We would do well to heed those words, not as an anchor that ties us only to past heartaches or joys, but a marker along the journey of life that reminds us of what was lost and found in the aftermath of such events. 

 

Several of the family members reading the names in New York this morning have used their platform to implore all who hear to continue to remember the events of 9/11.  We honor the dead and the living when we remember.  Let us also allow these memories to inform and empower our steps on this day and in the days to come, resolved not to be defeated by the echoes of  these memories, but empowered to seek peace and justice as individuals and as citizens of this nation.  

 

Jim Abernathy