everything changed

Everything changed.

I was about 45 minutes from home, taking the day of September 11, 2001 to study and spend time with God. As I heard slices of news on the radio, I made my way to a random Best Buy. On dozens and dozens of TVs, I stood among many strangers as the attacks happened. I knew I needed to go home to be with my wife and newborn son. 

Everything changed.

In the days that followed, it was the only thing on TV. Stories we were interested before now seemed "stupid" in comparison. Airlines shut down. Unifying bewilderment created unifying friendships. Churches were full for multiple weeks as people wondered questions out loud they'd stuffed down for years and returned to their roots. 

Everything changed.

Then time passed. Travel took on new restrictions. The economy was different. We weren't sure if we should root for war or against it, but knew that soldiers and front-line workers were to be our heroes. Many of us became an expert (in our own eyes) and returned back to sillier stories. Social media launched - that amplified it all. 

Everything changed.

It's been years since then - so many years, in fact, that we're more aware of the effects of 9/11 to such a degree that the 20 year anniversary sort of snuck up on many of us (be honest). We've been slugging away at being right so long that it's been a while since we've "gotten right" with ourselves, with each other and with God. We don't know when the next global "something" will happen, nor if the global "somethings" we're currently in will get better or worse. We just know that our side of things can never, never, never, never, never, never, never appear to be wrong, so we've trained ourselves to argue well and point fingers with longer endurance than our *alleged) opponents. 

Everything changed.

Centuries earlier, a Man unlike any other man walked the earth. It happened in an era of chaos in the known world as one group tried to bully another group, and countless people felt overlooked. Right then and there, in the fullness of time, this Man lived among us, yet was different than all of us. He taught, cared, healed, corrected, reset, guided... showed us holiness and grace simultaneously... and predicted His death and resurrection (and then both happened). Even as the world (and the world of everyone in it) was collapsing, He stayed on a Cross to show us another way. The impact of that Man, Jesus Christ, still can impact you today... and perhaps if you genuinely invite Him in today as your Savior and Lord/Leader, then tomorrow you can genuinely claim something new and lasting in a world full of destructive ideas, words and actions. Perhaps if you humble yourself now into Him, you can every day that follows look in the mirror and remember it, owning...

"Everything changed."

If that's a step you're open to take,
here's a next step to that big step
that changes every step:
https://myrc.church/yes/