Neal Pollard
Can you remember what you were doing six years ago today? It's not likely. I'm straining my memory to pull out whatever recollections I have. I remember that the weather was pretty and that my 1996 Chevrolet Corsica had a flat tire in the evening. I was preaching in a gospel meeting in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and all my family was with me. That morning, I had been preparing teaching material for a trip I would not take to the Tamil Nadu province in India.
If it were not for what happened six years ago tomorrow, I am sure even those details would have evaporated from my mind long ago. What happened on 9/11/01 had a direct impact on many of the things I remember from 9/10/01. Like everyone else but the hijackers and plotters, I could not have anticipated the tragic twist of events that will stay blazened in the world's memory through video, books, and memorials.
However, on 9/10/01, there were tragedies and injustices. Babies were aborted. People died, from both natural and violent causes, outside of Christ. People made choices that led them down a road away from God on which they still find themselves today. Perhaps, one or more people gave up their faith or their hope that day. Also, on 9/10/01, there were heroic actions. It is likely that somebody obeyed the gospel in this country and overseas when somebody took the time to study with them. Visits and calls were made on sick, shut-in, and lonely people. Someone cooked food for a family or person who had been in surgery or had a baby.
The point of this is not to trivialize or minimize the events of 9/11 or its place in current events. It is to say that we reacted to the heroes and villains of that day more than others because we could see their effects much more. A person dying outside of Christ or turning from the Word to the world does not often have the same impact. We cannot see the soul, yet to save a soul from spiritual death or for a soul to die lost is infinitely more impactful than the loss or saving of a physical life. 9/10/07 will be a day that touches eternity, good and ill, for someone today. Let us be heroes of the faith wherever we can for whoever we can to God's glory. It's that huge!