A love story emerged from September 11, 2001. The love story of the September 11 attack is worth retelling because it exemplifies the level of love that is possible in our relationships. It is a love story about what it means to be lost in love; a Love greater than any other because of the impact it produces when it is given … and much later when the love story is re-told, as in this article.
This love was first seen on September 11, 2001 on Flight 93, which crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside as those brave passengers were willing to thwart the terrorist’s plans and die … to save others. Love in action during that incident is the Love that Christ referred to when he said: “There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life, to lay down one’s life for friends.”
This Love is so great because it is a Love far beyond what our humanity alone can deliver. It is a Love that does not come from us, but comes through us, bypassing our conditional logic and expressed as unconditional and disinterested. It is the Love of God.
During the attacks, we saw this selfless love over and over again. George Howard, a police officer who had the day off when the terrorists attacked, ran from his home to the World Trade Center. While helping those in need, he was killed by falling debris. There is no greater love than this, to give your life to save the life of another.
This level of love was seen in many office workers, including an older man who was a dear paraplegic friend in a wheelchair. When his disabled friend told him to go out, he refused. Instead, he helped his friend make a phone call to his wife and then made his own call. After communicating with his nephew, who asked him why he wasn’t trying to escape the burning building, he said he couldn’t risk letting his friend die alone. Moments later, they died together when the tower collapsed. Neither of them died alone. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for friends.
Then there is the love story of Reverend Mychal Judge, the beloved chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, who also answered the call. While giving the last rites to a fallen firefighter, Father Mike was beaten and killed. His body was pulled from the rubble by a group of firefighters, who gently deposited it on the altar of a nearby church. There is no greater love than this, to lay down your life for your friends.
In every moment of every day, we have the opportunity to be a part of God’s love story by loving others in selfless service. A Ty Herndon song contains lyrics that speak to the power of this kind of love.
Tell me something, who could ask for more
Than to be living in a moment … To love every minute.
Tell me something, who could ask for more
Than to be living in a moment for which you would die.
The unconditional Love of God that flows through us has the power to create that kind of moment; a moment so determined, meaningful, and selfless that the ego disappears and, with it, any preoccupation with death. That is being lost in love … and living with the potential that God has given you.
Erma Bombeck said, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I hope I don’t have an iota of talent left and I can say, ‘I used everything you gave me.” Our ability to choose is a gift from God. Using it to lovingly serve others is our gift to God. Loving that way in our daily life is the supreme work we have in this life.
A newspaper cartoon after the terrorist attacks showed firefighters climbing the stairs of the World Trade Center, forgetting themselves to find and help people in need. The last image showed firefighters standing on the clouds at heaven’s doorstep. They wore their rescue uniforms, with halos over their helmets, reporting on their walkie-talkies: “We have reached the top.”
At the end of our lives, I hope God is smiling at how we, like those firefighters, love so fully and selflessly and reach the peak of our God-given potential.