Perspective

I just finished reading a shot book written in 2001, shortly after 9/11 by Jim Cymbala, "God's Grace-From Ground Zero" He put many of the questions posed almost immediately after this tragedy that was literally in his front yard. He is the pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle.
Reading this book brought back the uncertainty of those days after the evil attacks. I remember I couldn't turn off the TV in the days following. What would happen next?
Speculation as to why this happened on our soil flooded our minds. Was the devil's picture in those clouds? Was this God's judgment on our nation? Why did God let this all happen?
Jim answers this and other wondering in a calm, practical and Truth centered fashion, with Truth being Jesus. My favorite line is actually a quote from Warren Wiersby, "When you have problems with theology, try doxology" We need to worship the God who is always in control, even when those waves crash over our heads. No this is not a simplistic answer. There are no simplistic solutions to the evil in this world. Evil men do evil acts. I think this is the hardest fact of all of 9/11 for me to accept. A hatred beyond any sane understanding motivated these men to sacrifice all.
I have a hard time understanding animal abuse, let alone all the other abuses. I'm not elevating animal abuse to anything. I'm just saying, I don't understand evil. Yet, as in another book I just read, "For this we were made: that we might know the mind of God and let that mind dwell in us. This is the Word that calls us to reason together with God so that the evil within us may stir us more than the evil around us. It is only in that sequence that the soul of an individual and the soul of a nation can be recovered." Deliver Us from Evil by Ravi Zacharias.
As we reflect this day, we must never forget the positive. Unity reigned. People sought God. The world sorrowed with us and as Bono said, "We were all Americans for one day." Let the love for humankind fill our hearts not just then and not just now, but always.