A Letter to Mrs. Washington

To many that tragic day must have felt like yesterday, but tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of September 11, the day when thousands lost their lives and many more, their loved ones in the attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.

I imagined writing a letter to one of the victims' mothers in a possibly feeble attempt to comfort her. Then I imagined getting a somewhat bitter response from her in which, knowing that I am a Christian, she asks the age-old question that accompanies the aftermath of countless tragedies, "If God is so loving and so powerful, why did he let this happen? Where was he when those men turned my son's plane into a weapon of hatred?", among other similar questions.

Indeed, events such as September 11 bring unspeakable evil - and the deep, nagging questions surrounding it - out of the realm of philosophical musings and into the REAL world, the world where tears are really shed, lives are really lost and pains are really felt, where evil things that happen cannot be made to un-happen simply by closing a book or an discussion.

And I wonder what I would say to my second letter to this woman about her loss of her son in response to her questions about the place of God in relation to her loss and pain. The following is an attempt to write that letter. (Note: "Mrs. Washington" is a symbolic name I chose for her because George Washington is considered a father of his nation. By this logic his wife would be the mother of the nation, including those that died on September 11, 2001).

Dear Mrs. Washington,

I appreciate you writing back to me. Your questions about why God allowed the tragedy that befell your family and where He was when it happened are extremely valid questions that have been asked by so many people, including those that believe in Him and continue to do so. I can only ask you to believe me when I say that we who believe in God's ultimate love and power do understand these questions you are asking. We understand because many of us have gone through the same kind of situations and experiences as the one that compelled you to ask them, either on that most tragic day or on other days in our lives.

Yet many of us still believe that God is all-loving and all-powerful because our lives have been marked by that love and power more than it has been by each of our tragedies. You might have heard that the reason God doesn't stop people from doing evil things, such as flying planes into buildings, is because He loves us enough to give us free will. And He allows us free will because it takes free will to truly love; a love that is forced is not true love. Although it might make God look weak or unloving, His refusal to force people to do what He wants them to do is precisely one of the things that makes Him different from the terrorists. Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Washington; I don't mean that God is cold. He is the most loving Person ever. In fact, God is love itself. I do believe His heart was torn apart more than anyone on that day because of how much He loved everyone that died, including your son, and everyone that suffered unspeakably because of those deaths, including you and your family.

You may ask - and we all do - if He loves you so much, why didn't He stop those evil men from killing your son? I believe He was able to, but when He made us He gave us the gift of free will, so that we can love Him with that free will. And it is a gift He would never forcefully take from us - even if we give our lives to Him we still have the choice of not obeying Him. And this was precisely what evil people do; they do not obey Him. It hurts Him a lot when people do that, but it was a risk He was willing to take by giving us free will just so that we can love Him freely. If He had forced us to be good, He wouldn't be any better than the people that compelled their followers to become living weapons that drive planes as instruments of murder and hate for their own agenda. If He had forced us to love Him, He would be no different from those people that seek to "punish" us for not loving their beliefs.

This brings me to your question regarding where God was and what He was doing when it happened. The short answer would be related to what I have already said; that God was crying even as you were crying. But you might also be asking where He is now, now that your son is gone and you are left here to mourn him. A lot of people say that God isn't there for people like you in your hours of need because they don't see thunder and lightning and God showing His face. But He is there for you. He is there to comfort you, to give you words of encouragement, to give you a hug, to help you make sense of the tragedy you are experiencing - through us. He is here in those that He call His body, His children. (If we are His body, then maybe in writing this letter I would be His pinky finger).

So where is God with all this pain in the world, all the pain in your heart? The truth is, Mrs. Washington, He is still here with you and for you in those that call Him Father, those that believe in His Son and are sent by Him. If our actions ignored your pain or even made it worse, it is our responsibility, not God's. If you have called out to us for comfort and we have not heard you, it is our ears that have been deaf, not God's. If we have seen you but have had no compassion for your plight, it is our eyes that are blind, not God's. He has called us - even pleaded with us - to tend to your wounds, and if we have not done so, the fault is ours, not His.

But upon this day, Mrs. Washington, the anniversary of that infamous day, the day that love of your life was taken from you forever, we pledge this to you: that we are here for you, we who have also suffered your losses but have gained God's love. And we, despite our human shortcomings, will share this love with you. When you call, we will hear you. When you cry, we will cry with you. When you seek assurance for the future, we will be there to walk with you so that you know that God Himself walks with you through us.

And through this we pray that one day, whenever you hear these words, you know that they are not empty slogans but ring true and meaningful: God loves you, Mrs. Washington!

In Christ,


J. C. T.