“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him . . .”
- Romans 8:28
It was sixteen years ago — September 11, 2001 — 9/11 as we refer to it. Most of us, I imagine, who were beyond toddler age at the time remember vividly exactly where we were at the exact moment we became aware of the attack on the World Trade Center towers. Some have referred to that event as our generation’s Pearl Harbor, and have compared the firemen and other heroic first responders to those brave souls who sacrificed their lives on the beaches of Normandy on D-day.
I was managing a regional bond trading operation for a major Wall Street investment firm at the time, with our offices located on the forty-fourth floor of a downtown Dallas skyscraper. In our large trading room was a television situated at one end as a financial news source, which we rarely watched. But being closely linked with our New York headquarters, we were alerted right away about a plane crashing into one of the towers, which caused us all to migrate toward the TV. Moments later we stared slack-jawed as we witnessed the second airliner slam head on into the other tower.
These were evil acts we had just witnessed, visited upon thousands of innocent victims, our fellow citizens, in our own country, on our own soil, specifically in New York and Washington, D.C. . . . Then, before we could even begin to process what we had seen, the most amazing thing began to occur, good overtaking evil. In a flash it seemed, the courageous firemen and other emergency responders arrived — incredible heroes who literally saved thousands of lives at the risk, and losses of their own. Then others came, and more began to pitch in from all over, however they could. The goodness of people rose to the occasion. Thousands of stories have emerged since then in testimony to this goodness. We’ve all heard many of them, and will hear more for years to come.
It has always been my belief that in the long-run, goodness wins out over evil, that love wins out over hate. We are God’s children after all, and because of that, He works in all things for our good. This does not mean that all that happens is good, for evil is prevalent in our fallen world, but God is able to redeem every circumstance for our long-range good. 9/11 bore witness to that, the goodness of God and His people prevailing over evil.