Past Commentary by a Common Terry
25 Years
September 13, 2026
You can mention something significant to me that happened a year ago and I might remember it. I might not. I may get the details right or they be blurred or altered. Roll it back a long time ago, and it is even more difficult. In a couple weeks we will go to a memorial for my aunt in Texas. She is the last of the aunts and uncles. I’ll visit with several cousins. As is always the case, there will be some moments of, “Remember when….” And that will be followed by, “That’s not what happened. Here’s what happened.” And then, “No, that wasn’t me that did that, it was….”
But the memories of 25 years ago this past Friday? Etched in stone for all of us. Those few hours that everyone remembers, everyone puts in context, not just with information, but with where we were when we heard. They are significant. Three in particular in modern U.S history: December 7, 1941—the attack on Pearl Harbor, November 22, 1963—the assassination of President Kennedy, and last Friday—September 11th.
The very words—nine-eleven—are all that is needed to resurrect memories and emotions...for most of us, but not for all of us. Did you know that 9/11 has been long enough ago that about 30% of the current population in the United States weren’t born when the attacks came? And that percentage bumps close to 40% of the population that is 30 years old or younger. That means they would have been no more than five years old on that Tuesday. Probably too young to be aware of what could become a part of the fabric of their memories.
With each passing year, an event becomes less intimate and more historical. Think about it. A person that was six years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked will be in his or her early 90’s now. The videos, photos, historical documentation, and various movies and media presentations keep it preserved, but the raw emotion inevitably fades. So, on Friday, there were ceremonies. And they weren’t only in New York City, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Pennsylvania. They were nationwide. The mantra of “...lest we forget” rings true with each passing year. We don’t want to forget the nearly 3,000 victims. We need to feel sympathy for their families. We feel a compulsion to revisit the trauma...lest we forget. To lose the feelings is to reach a “swipe left” erasure of our collective experience. It becomes less intimate and more historical.
We witnessed and experienced what happens when evil in this world acts out on the largest stage with the worst intentions. We need to remember what happens when evil gets its way. The words of the old apostle John in his first letter are a precise truth nearly two thousand years after he wrote them. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (I John 5:19) We must remember where 9/11 came from, where the attack on Pearl Harbor came from, where the assassination of JFK came from, where Columbine and countless other mass shootings came from: the world is evil.
But we are from God. To remember the worst of humanity is to search for what makes us best. The answer to the Holocaust is not hatred, but the desire to belong to the One who lifts us above the inevitable mess. Even though it is a dark, dark world, sometimes seemingly pitch black, we, right in the middle of it, are to “...shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:25)
We need to remember the evil that brought about a pitch-black Tuesday some 25 years ago. To allow the awareness of evil to fade is to pave the way for a diminished need to find our ultimate answer in the God who delivers us.
Very briefly, that also happened after 9/11. Too briefly. Church buildings were visited. Spontaneous prayer vigils were held. That Tuesday evening, about 150 members of Congress (from both the House and the Senate and from both parties) stood on the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol building and sang God Bless America.
But it wasn’t long before it was politics, as usual. Some memories don’t last long.
Let’s remember this—because there is evil, there is the need, the necessity, for a Deliverer from that evil. We remember darkness. We also remember that the light pierced it.
Don’t ever forget that!
But the memories of 25 years ago this past Friday? Etched in stone for all of us. Those few hours that everyone remembers, everyone puts in context, not just with information, but with where we were when we heard. They are significant. Three in particular in modern U.S history: December 7, 1941—the attack on Pearl Harbor, November 22, 1963—the assassination of President Kennedy, and last Friday—September 11th.
The very words—nine-eleven—are all that is needed to resurrect memories and emotions...for most of us, but not for all of us. Did you know that 9/11 has been long enough ago that about 30% of the current population in the United States weren’t born when the attacks came? And that percentage bumps close to 40% of the population that is 30 years old or younger. That means they would have been no more than five years old on that Tuesday. Probably too young to be aware of what could become a part of the fabric of their memories.
With each passing year, an event becomes less intimate and more historical. Think about it. A person that was six years old when Pearl Harbor was attacked will be in his or her early 90’s now. The videos, photos, historical documentation, and various movies and media presentations keep it preserved, but the raw emotion inevitably fades. So, on Friday, there were ceremonies. And they weren’t only in New York City, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in a field in Pennsylvania. They were nationwide. The mantra of “...lest we forget” rings true with each passing year. We don’t want to forget the nearly 3,000 victims. We need to feel sympathy for their families. We feel a compulsion to revisit the trauma...lest we forget. To lose the feelings is to reach a “swipe left” erasure of our collective experience. It becomes less intimate and more historical.
We witnessed and experienced what happens when evil in this world acts out on the largest stage with the worst intentions. We need to remember what happens when evil gets its way. The words of the old apostle John in his first letter are a precise truth nearly two thousand years after he wrote them. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (I John 5:19) We must remember where 9/11 came from, where the attack on Pearl Harbor came from, where the assassination of JFK came from, where Columbine and countless other mass shootings came from: the world is evil.
But we are from God. To remember the worst of humanity is to search for what makes us best. The answer to the Holocaust is not hatred, but the desire to belong to the One who lifts us above the inevitable mess. Even though it is a dark, dark world, sometimes seemingly pitch black, we, right in the middle of it, are to “...shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:25)
We need to remember the evil that brought about a pitch-black Tuesday some 25 years ago. To allow the awareness of evil to fade is to pave the way for a diminished need to find our ultimate answer in the God who delivers us.
Very briefly, that also happened after 9/11. Too briefly. Church buildings were visited. Spontaneous prayer vigils were held. That Tuesday evening, about 150 members of Congress (from both the House and the Senate and from both parties) stood on the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol building and sang God Bless America.
But it wasn’t long before it was politics, as usual. Some memories don’t last long.
Let’s remember this—because there is evil, there is the need, the necessity, for a Deliverer from that evil. We remember darkness. We also remember that the light pierced it.
Don’t ever forget that!