I don't remember what I was doing fifty years ago today. I was too young. I don't remember my parents talking about JFK, but I'm sure they did. As I thought of that horrific day for so many people, I compared it to my own emotions and thoughts on 9-11 not so long ago. I remember watching the TV on that bright sunny September morning; I had on the Today Show with Matt Laur and Katie Couric. They interrupted the program when the first Twin Tower was hit. Surely it was a horrible accident. As I watched, a second plane hit the second tower. There was disbelief in the voice of the newscasters. I called into work and told them to turn on the radio. History was happening, history that was life ending and life changing. I got in my car and drove to work, intently listening to the radio. When the news came on that that a plane had flown into the Pentagon, I ran a red light. My mind was racing... "What is going to happen next, was the world as I knew it ending?" In many ways, it did; just as it did in 1963. Whether it is just one life, or many lives lost in such a senseless manner, each has created a ripple effect from that point in time to eternity. A father, mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt, best friend, niece, nephew, neighborhood, a hero; gone from our lives too soon. All those people had relationships, and held many different roles in their life. They forever changed the course of those around them, for the good or for the bad. And just as their lives created one path for those around them, their loss forced their family, friends and a nation to forge a new path, without them. We remember them. And in some ways, we have held on to the good and overlooked the bad in some; while for others we have held on to the bad and overlooked the good. But life goes on, and we wonder, what if…..
What if's can drive you crazy. The what if's will never be. And that is part of the resilience of life. We keep on going, life doesn't stop. It may feel like it, but it doesn't. The minutes still click away into days, weeks, months, years…... Churchhill once said "When you're walking through Hell, keep going". Every era has it's tragedy, a point in time when the world changes. A point in time we remember like yesterday. It's etched in our minds and we can conjure up our emotions by just remembering, or looking at pictures that takes us back in time or even hearing a song; things that make us remember things we'd rather forget, but are afraid we will. …….And yet less than a generation away, there will be those that won't know the emotion and thoughts of that fateful day or time. They will only be able to imagine it. We walked through Hell and kept on going. And there lies the hope. Hope that we learned from the past. Hope that the future will be better. And for me, hope in Jesus Christ and an eternity that makes walking through the Hell worth the journey.
