Reflections on Our Week of Dread - Friday, September 14, 2001
by Mark Lancaster, Executive Director, Ministry of Money

Along with millions of Americans and billions of people around the world, I have spent these last four days living amidst the pain and the grief and the carnage and the dread created through the hijacking and intentional crashing of four American Airliners. And not unlike most of the world, I have vacillated between anger and fear concerning the perpetrators and deep sorrow, both for the victims and their families and for our nation as a whole. More than one commentator has echoed my own hesitant recognition- “that our nation will never be the same again. We will never feel completely safe, even on our own soil.”

Like so many of you, I have listened to countless radio broadcasts, sat dumbfounded too many times watching the endless unfolding of what seemed just days ago as impossible tragedy, read scores of written accounts of unspeakable horror and shared with dozens of friends and colleagues my own angst and disgust over what has transpired.

Until this very moment I have felt literally unable to put into words the very sentiment I know God would have me express. But I can stay silent no longer. Today this seemingly inane headline ripped at the very core of my being:

 “From majestic cathedrals to mosques and small town churches, America mourned as a nation Friday, praying for the victims of the terrorist attacks and seeking courage for the fight ahead.”

There is no question that we are a nation—perhaps a world—in mourning. The last great “Superpower” has been horrifically assaulted not with conventional weapons of mass destruction but with at least one of the symbols of wealth and power that we as a nation flaunt before the world—our unique ability to go where we want to, when we want to, to do what we want to do—all in the name of freedom.

And, yes, we should—we must pray for the victims of these terrible deeds. We must pray for the dead, the dying, the injured, and the bereaved. But these are not the only victims of the attacks. Those filled with enough hatred toward America to end their own lives to somehow punish us are victims. Those who suffer persecution and violence and dehumanization any place around the world—especially as America pursues its own self-interests—are also victims.

There is another kind of victim that few seem to want to recognize. The last line of this headline puts in bold relief this category of victim when it reads: “seeking courage for the fight ahead.” I realize that this is just a headline that some staff writer pulled out of thin air. But I fear he or she speaks for too many of our hearts. I wish I could believe that what was meant was about fighting our own inner urges to retaliate with more senseless violence against innocent civilians. I wish I could believe that the writer intended to call us to fight feelings of total despair and resignation—essentially giving up on life and its beauty. I wish I did not believe that the writer speaks for so many who have come to believe that the only way to respond to this terrible tragedy is to fight this invisible enemy with every bit of hatred and bitterness and revenge and armament we can get our hands on.

I am often struck by the power of Luke’s Gospel on my own life and its deep call on our work here at Ministry of Money. I was reading Luke 12:16-21 today and felt a sickening resonance with the events of this past week. If you will recall, this is the parable that Jesus told about the rich farmer putting up even bigger barns to store even more of his wealth—to keep for himself. But things do not turn out as he had planned. He dies long before he could enjoy what he thought was his forever.

The word that keeps pounding through my own mind and heart during this painful week is “Security”. Do we as a nation, do we, as individuals really know where true security comes from? It struck me this week that in spite of the good work we have done for years through Ministry of Money, we mostly do our work like other Americans in the midst of what we have perceived to be a safe, secure and wealthy nation. It is so easy to look for our security in institutions, financial conditions, nations and economic systems that ultimately provide no security whatsoever.

The frightening irony of the horrific events of this past week is that the two institutional structures that we depend most on to provide us with security—our financial prowess and our military power—both were shown to be as vulnerable as the lives that were tragically lost in the world trade towers and the pentagon. This week’s devastation must not be compounded with an even greater tragedy—that of refusing to learn the lesson that stands so plainly before us.

Jesus speaks very powerful words later in chapter 12 of Luke’s gospel that beg for us to heed them. “For where your treasure is, there will be your hearts also.”

If nothing else good can come from the senseless loss of life and property that we are now forced to endure, let us finally begin to understand where our true security lies—not in world trade centers or financial markets, not in pentagons or retaliatory strike forces, not in shiny symbols of American power. Our only and truest security lies in a God who would have us love others as much as we ourselves are loved.