The Morning after Normal
Isn't it strange how collectively we all remember where we were the moment we heard of the 9/11 tragedy from eleven years ago.
So what did you do the morning after the world changed? Can you remember where you were, or what you did, or what you felt on September 12th?
Isn't that something? Most of us can't remember what happened the next day. I sure don't remember much about the morning after the world changed and ushered us into a new normal.
I do remember that it was a Wednesday, just as it is some eleven years later. I remember it was Wednesday because that night we opened the doors of our church in Centennial/Littleton, Colorado (the community was in the process of changing incorporation). And that night people gathered in the church to pray.
Maybe that's not a bad plan for eleven years later.
What did 9/11 teach you about your life?
What did 9/11 teach you about what matters?
What did 9/11 teach you about your faith?
Prayer is an exercise in finding our focus in God alone. He is the one constant in the ever-shifting sands of time and circumstance.
Need some focus today? Need to put it all in focus? That's not a bad plan for every morning after normal.
By the way, I do not think it is coincidental that the first passage that Jesus turned to as the text for his ministry and life was Isaiah 61. To me it seems to take on fresh meaning on this morning after ...
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
and to proclaim that captives will be released
and prisoners will be freed.
2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn
that the time of the Lord's favor has come,
and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies.
3 To all who mourn in Israel,
he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks
that the Lord has planted for his own glory.
