A Facebook meme suggests, “The best way to honor  those lost on 9/11, is to be the people we were on 9/12.”

Twenty-five years ago, I was serving a church, in a small City nestled along the Mississippi River, far from the 9/11 attacks in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Still, the terrorist attacks destroyed our sense of peace, security, and protection.

We wondered when the next attack would happen, or how many terrorists were in the country? Questions were swirling in our heads and hearts. At the church we hastily planned a prayer service for the evening, with candles to light against the darkness of the day.

Degrees of separation disappeared. We were all touched by the events of September 11, 2001. A couple from our church, vacationing in New York had planned to visit the trade center that day. Grandparents learned, their granddaughter’s friend, was on a plane flown into the trade center. An old friend was in New York on business, when the towers fell, covered with ash as he made his way to safety.

If you were to go shopping in those early days, you would have noticed how quiet it was in the stores, and the people you encountered, we’re quiet with it. All of us stunned, contemplating what our world has become, and worrying about what was coming next.

Soon we learned, that Minnesota native Tom Burnett was on United Airlines Flight 93, and among the passengers who rushed the hijackers, trying to get into the cockpit and divert the plane from Washington.  Eventually, I served a church in the area where Tom Burnett grew up. Most everyone who followed High School sports knew him as a beloved quarterback of their football team in his youth. Today, my grandchildren attend the school Tom Burnett graduated from, with its memorials and stories of who he was.

There was no one in the country  exempt from the impact of  the September 11th attacks. It humbled us, showed our vulnerability, and our common humanity. For a few days at least, we recognized every life as precious, every person as one of value.

For a few days, our political wrangling was put on hold and the bitterness of our political rhetoric was silenced. To quiet rising Islamophobia, President Bush visited Washington’s Islamic Center, reminding us American Muslims had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks.

People donated blood, rushed to the trade center site, to see how they could help, and be supportive of police and firefighters searching through the rubble. Some of the best in our nation happened that week. Heroism, generosity, compassion, and sacrificial love were all there.

For a time we were united, caring for each other, in our common humanity.

The Facebook meme speaks a deep truth, for the best way we can honor lives lost on 9/11, is to be the best of the people we were on 9/12, when we set aside our differences, and recognized the value and worth of each of our neighbors.

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13