"Now taxes and gas prices are going to shoot way up!"
I don't think I will ever forget those words. They were uttered by a truck driver at the company I worked for on the morning of September 11, 2001. As the nation stood in horror watching the largest attack on American soil in history I was crowded into a small break room with truck drivers and the people who unloaded their trucks. Like most people, I didn't think that it could be real. It has to be an accident.
Sadly, I was wrong. It was no accident.
The waves of that day are still splashing the shores of our world today 14 years later. In one act 2,977 victims were lost. Say that number out loud - two thousand nine hundred seventy seven people. That's nearly half the total population of my hometown. On that day the world changed forever.
I know that we all deal with tragedies in different ways and I am trying to remember this as I write out this post today, but I think that those words are indicative of a deeper issue within all our hearts. The world is starting to stand still, thousands of people have lost their lives, America has been attacked - and all you can think about is taxes and gas prices going up? Therein lies a deep issue of the heart: our selfishness. That day in North Carolina over 500 miles away from the tragedy in lower Manhattan we weren't immediately affected by the events of 9/11, yet all the driver was concerned with was a possible tax increase and gas prices rising. There were no tears for the victims. There were no prayers made for the families. There was no outrage over the attacks. There was only complaining about having to spend money on taxes and gas. That day I couldn't help but wonder how the families felt knowing that their loved one was inside one of the twin towers. Did they care about a tax increase or higher gas prices? Were they concerned about money over the lives of their lost family members?
When tragedy hits your doorstep you realize that life is more than higher taxes and rising gas prices.
One of the leaders of the Early Church made famous the statement, "Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn" (Romans 12.15). On Tuesday morning September 11, 2001 it was a time to mourn with those who mourn. Today on the 14th anniversary of that day it is still a time to mourn with those who mourn. If we seek to make the hurt and loss of others a venue to talk about our own needs and agendas we have forfeited the basic human characteristics of compassion, empathy, and sympathy. Simply put - it's not about your taxes and gas prices.
Let's remember that today as we say a prayer for the families of those impacted that day and for those who are still serving our country in the defense of our freedom.
