“9-11 Gone but never forgotten”
The Coptic New Year and the Commemoration of 9/11
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, are without question a defining moment of the 21st century. A painful piercing memory to all those who can remember.
On that day, 20 years ago, two planes crashed into the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. Two other planes also crashed that day, one into the Pentagon building and another one crashed in Pennsylvania instead of the intended target of Washington, D.C. Orchestrated by the Islamic extremist group, Al-Qaeda, the attacks caused such devastation in the United States.
Thousands of children lost a parent, a loved one, friends, and first-responders were affected as many lost their own lives in the attempt of rescue.
And yet 2 decades later, we continue to mourn, reflect and pray as we recall the vivid catastrophic memory.
The nation embraced many lessons about hope, perseverance, healing and loss but none was so profound and searing as the courage and heroism of those first responders and civilians who rushed to aid in the aftermath of the attacks.
We remember the images of the first responders who put their lives at risk, modeling the sacrificial love of Jesus, who said: ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.’ John 15:13
And yet if we recall amid the sea of debris stood a steel cross - a sign that God has not deserted us. This became known as the Ground Zero Cross. And while people were drawn to this Cross, it became a message that somehow, death - even the death of almost 3,000 innocents .. was not the final word.
This day September 11th almost always coincides with the start of a new Coptic Year (the Nayrouz Feast), the day that memorializes the beginning but not the end of Christian martyrdom in the Coptic Church of Alexandria , Egypt. This year commemorates the year 1732 for the martyrs. It is easy to correlate the killing of innocent people in 9/11 and those who were and are martyred to keep their faith. The incidences are not only united on the day of celebration but also the injustice, and mercilessness that provoked both events to be celebrated.
It is very fitting that what remained echoing the shape and orientation of the Twin Towers are two illuminating, beaming, bright rays of hope as one gaze up. It has become an iconic symbol that both honors those lives that were taken and celebrates the unbreakable spirit of New York.
After two decades from the memory of 9/11 and over 170 decades for Coptic Martyrs, we see hope emerging from despair, life from death, and light from darkness.
With each name being called and recognized of those who gave their lives on that day in 2001, I wonder who won? For a while you would think of course Evil!. But with a deeper thinking, you observe that each family of those brave men and women are becoming much stronger and more resilient after twenty years had passed.
The same lesson is also observed in the Coptic Church, where over 1700 years of martyrdom had made this church a pillar of faith and a beacon of light to those seeking the truth.
As it was once said, “It's Better to Light a Candle than to Curse the Darkness”. Let’s continue to expose evil not by cursing it but rather by each becoming a small light in his or her own little circles and let all these circles merge to be the Kingdom of God’s Peace on Earth.
#neverforget #september11th #Nayrouz
