Remembering

Dear friends,

Remembering is an important component of faith. To remember is to hold close something that is past, so that it might live with us, and within us, into the future. Of course, remembering can also be problematic if it keeps us in the past, unable to move forward. 

As we approach the 20th anniversary of September 11, those of us who were alive when it happened will no doubt remember. What we remember and how we remember will be as diverse as we are. But we will remember, because who could forget? 

An article in the New York Times this week asks, “What Does It Mean to ‘Never Forget,’” and looks at what we hold on to and what we chose to let go around the events of September 11. 

It shares the story of a NYC deputy fire commissioner who carried guilt for not having responded to the attacks. He felt ashamed that he hadn’t gone to help. When he finally shared this with a colleague, the colleague was stunned, telling him that he had been there. He had helped transport bodies to the morgue, in fact. Didn’t he remember? No? For a while, failing to remember was a coping mechanism for him. On that morning he saw things no person should ever have to see, much less remember.

It also told the story of a woman who lost her husband. She shares that every time she smells cigar smoke or sees a bicycle (her husband was an avid cyclist), she remembers. Not just him, but everything that happened that fateful day and in the days and weeks to come.

The article shares so many stories of remembering, even as it asks what it means to never forget. 

Twenty years later, the command to “Never Forget” retains its power, jolting us into the past whenever we see it on a hat or flag or the back of a passing car on the Belt Parkway. For all its slogan-like simplicity, these twinned words seem freighted with the complexities of guilt, obligation and even presumption — as if we could ever forget.

What do you remember? How do you remember? What stories do you share about that day? Who were you then and who are you now? Who were we then and who are we now? 

Former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said on the 10th Anniversary, “The greatest memorial to those who died 10 years ago will be a world more inclined toward peace.” She then participated in a series of commemorative events in Episcopal churches in NYC under the theme “Remember to Love.”

May we all remember, this week, the events of September 11 (as if we could ever forget). And, may we remember that, while evil exists and is as powerful as it ever was, God the Creator is more powerful still. 

Faithfully,

Crystal+