"... GOD ..."
"Behind the plain black cover, with nothing more than the issues title and number under the publisher’s name, was the impact of the attacks on [the Twin Towers to] the Marvel Universe. Spider-Man arriving at the scene after the towers had already fallen and his reaction, his feeling of being completely overwhelmed by such a horrible act of hate, is summed up with one word: “god.” Hands on his head and in shock he can’t think of anything else to say. When he arrives on the scene he’s met with a question that those of us in the real world wanted to ask of our fictional heroes: “Where were you?” A question with no answer. No real answer anyway." -- Skott Jimenez
9/11 stopped the world.
It had been just another day until the planes hit.
We were going to school, sitting at work, or enacting some other routine. Now, for many of us that mundane task is permanently pressed upon our memories. "Where were you when the towers were attacked?" Is a question commonly asked and meditated on. We remember this because what we had been doing just ceased. It seemed irrelevant compared to the evil that had befallen us.
This feeling was spread through the Amazing Spider-Man which had stopped mid-series to present its "black cover issue." It showed the tragedies of what had just happened and encouraged us to know that even though we weren't able to prevent an attack we will stand united.
I can't help but think of another situation where the world stopped:
It had been pitch black since noon. The Jerusalem Temple had been defaced: the curtain ripped in two. Although, no one really knew what was really going on, many people left their holy place to congregate somewhere known as "the Skull." Here, men were hanged.
There were three crosses holding up tortured men in the wind. The middle cross held the man who was the Messiah, our Savior. People laughed at him and bet over his clothes. One of the men hanging beside him cursed at him and denied him as the other held onto the hope and faith that Jesus was God.
In front of Jesus stood his mother and his beloved disciple, John. They must have asked him "Why?" As the scoffers joked about the Christ saving himself from being hanged, wouldn't Mary and John have been seriously thinking the same thing? He did not give them an answer. Instead, he gave them each other. Finally he said, "It is finished." He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
After witnessing this, a roman soldier shouted out, "This man was innocent!!" All the other people assembled there who had witnessed the event left in turmoil. Where once they had shouted to crucify this man, they now cried out in penitence as they went home. Their hearts which had been hardened, broke under the pressure of what they had done.
They would remember this day. It was the day they had killed their Redeemer.
There is something very important to know about both 9/11 and the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. These days, both scarred into our memories, are not the end. Although, it would have been easy to give up on ourselves after the Twin Tower attack and it would have been possible to lose faith in Christ after his death, we cannot.
Sept. 11th marked a day where we realized our vulnerability and hopefully re-aligned our priorities. It was a chance to think about what really matters in this world and how often we take it for granted. That day was a day of loss, but I hope it was also the shock we needed to remember that our country stands on unification and love, two things that no terrorist attack can ever take away.
9/11 helped us to know ourselves.
Similarly, the day Christ died, the people around him witnessed what their actions had created. They really become too self-centered to see what was happening to those around them. Their sin made them blind to innocence. They were at fault. These people were finally made aware of how much they needed a Savior, someone to save them from themselves. Yet, they had killed him. They took his life for granted. And, they turned their back on God, who had never forsaken or stopped loving them.
Christ's death helped us to know who we needed.
But, what if the world stops again?
If there's no one else or we don't know what to do or say, at least we know where to turn: "... GOD ..."
HE ROSE!!! CHRIST ROSE!!! Although, we killed him and we deserve death, Christ never stopped loving us. He rose so that he could be able to forgive us and bury our sins with death. And, he continues to be there for us. He hears us when we pray. We can take comfort in everything knowing that somehow, some way, he's going to make it ok.
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