I sit here this morning at a complete loss for words. I don’t know exactly what to say, but I know something needs to be said—so here it is.
Twenty-four years ago, tragedy struck our nation. Extremists hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The brave men and women aboard Flight 93 diverted their plane into a field in Shanksville, PA—preventing another target from being hit and saving countless lives. Many of us remember exactly where we were that day: the shock, the horror, the helplessness. And yet, in the days that followed, something remarkable happened. Our country stood more united than ever before. We truly felt like the UNITED States of America. We swore we would never forget. We swore we would never let anything come between us.
But that unity didn’t last. Somewhere along the way, we let division take root. We stopped seeing our neighbors as people made in the image of God and started seeing them as labels: Democrat or Republican, Black or White, immigrant or citizen, liberal or conservative, extremist or mainline. We forgot that behind every label is a person with a family, with hopes and fears, with people who love them. Instead of standing together against violence and hatred, we’ve allowed rhetoric to grow harsher, and we’ve dehumanized “the other.”
Yesterday, a man was assassinated for his political beliefs. Let that sink in. In the land of the free and the home of the brave, a man lost his life simply for speaking his mind. Where is the America that stood united against violence 24 years ago?
And also yesterday—another school shooting in Colorado. Our children cannot even go to school without practicing what to do if a shooter enters their classroom. Parents send their kids off each morning praying they will come home safely. When will we stand together against that?
And where is the church in all this? Why has our voice grown so silent? Why aren’t we reminding the world that every person is made in the image of God, whether they agree with us or not? Why have we traded love for political alignment?
Today my heart aches. But I want to live differently. I want to spend today intentionally seeing the image of God in every person I meet. I want to love people well—not just the ones who think like me. I want to stop dehumanizing others and instead reflect the love of Christ. I hope others will join me.
