AFTER THE TERROR FROM THE SKIES

Millions bow their heads in prayer and ask "why?" For the first time since World War Two, thousands perish in an instant by force of arms. Not the force of arms of a nation at war, but of a group of people who know no allegiance to any nation. People who have twisted the teachings of God for their own ends.

"Where was God on September 11th?" people ask. "Why didn't someone see this thing coming and protect us against it?" "How can we stop it happening again?"

Such things happen because we let ourselves be taught to hate. We easily learn to despise what we do not understand. We close our minds to the possibility that our views may be the wrong ones. We let other people decide for us what is right and what is wrong. We will follow without knowing why we follow. We join the crowd.

You do not have to possess the intelligence of an Albert Einstein, the will of a Nelson Mandela or the faith of a Mother Theresa to know what brings you peace and contentment. You do not even have to believe in God to understand that you are not alone on this planet and that all human life is made in the same image. You may not speak to your neighbour, yet you know he is there and has most of the same concerns that you have.

Yet as you know all this, you want more. You want to know more, possess more. You are driven much more by yearnings for material treasure than for spiritual enlightenment. Why? What influence makes you seek that which eventually disappears? Is it what makes you different from the terrorists?

The men who murdered thousands in New York, Washington DC and Maryland on September 11th sought a place in Heaven. Why did they think that taking the lives of so many people along with their own should result in the reward of eternity in Paradise? What loving God would reward such men in that way? If they are to be so rewarded, then there is no loving God at all. The dead are dead, and that's it. So say those who claim that God himself died on September 11th.

How many thousands of people die of starvation each day? How many people are killed by earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters every year? Who knows them, but their immediate families and friends? The victims of September 11th will be known, and their names cut into stone for the world to see for years to come. Now, go to any Commonwealth War Graves site and see the number of headstones that bear the words "A Soldier of the Great War - Known Unto God".

God lives.

KW