We know that God works all things together for good
for the ones who love God, for those who are called
according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
I am sure that most, if not all, of you spent time on Saturday, September 11 watching some of the many remembrances on television covering the 20th anniversary of 9/11. I thought back to that day when all the FBI Agents assigned to FBI Headquarters (as I was) were instructed to leave their offices and move to the center of the building. The fourth hi-jacked plane, United Flight 93, was unaccounted for and its’ target was reportedly one of several buildings in Washington, D.C. It was only after Flight 93 crashed in Shanksville, Pa. that we returned to our offices.
On both 9/11 and twenty years later we heard stories of heroism and unselfish sacrifice by firefighters and first responders as well as stories of some people who were late getting to work that day at the World Trade Center towers for different reasons and escaped the tragedy.
The one story that I will never forget is that of Todd Beamer, an evangelical Christian and one of the heroes of Flight 93. Todd was married to Lisa Beamer and the father of two young sons. He was known as a “go to” guy. Lisa described him as an “ordinary guy with ordinary faith in a great God.” Todd had established a family tradition that when it was time to set out on a new family adventure he would always say “Let’s roll!”
As the hijacking began to unfold on Flight 93 Todd contacted a telephone operator named Lisa Jefferson. Over the course of the next 15 minutes, they carried on a conversation about what was happening on the hijacked airplane. The conversation bears witness to great courage and a deep faith. Todd told Lisa that “everyone is… really scared” and that some passengers had made calls to relatives. He asked Lisa to call his wife and “tell her that I love her… I’ll always love her…” and to tell his two sons, David and Andrew, that “their daddy loves them” and that he is “so proud of them.” Lisa Jefferson promised to make that call.
When the plane began “flying real erratic” Todd said, “we’re not going to make it out of here.” Before getting ready to rush the hijackers in the cockpit with other passengers Todd said to Lisa “…will you do one last thing for me? Would you pray with me?” Lisa and Todd proceeded to recite the Lord’s Prayer together. Lisa then heard Todd say, “God help me…Jesus help me… Are you guys ready?… Let’s roll!”
The fear, the tragedy and the search for hope that Americans faced after 9/11 caused a spirit of national unity. We, as members of the United Methodist Church, are now faced with the fear and tragedy of over 700,000 deaths of fellow Americans from Covid-19 and its’ variants and a search for hope to resolve our differences over LGBTQIA and racism. I pray that all of us will have the courage and deep faith of Todd Beamer to unite and work together to resolve these issues. When we feel God leading us in that direction then we can say “Let’s roll!”
Peace,
John Kelso
If you would like to view past editions of Lessons from Our Lay Leader (John Kelso), follow this link: https://harbordistrictnc.org/category/from-the-lay-leader/