I don’t know about you, but discussing politics (or even daring to urge people to vote this year) feels a bit like wading into a minefield with no way of knowing which topics might unleash the fever pitch emotions that accompany lightning rod issues in our country today. But there are moments in American history where the polarity inherent within politics has been set aside – moments where pundits no longer talk about red states and blue states, and we find strength in the simple truth that we are the United States of America.
September 11th was one of those moments.  Fifteen years ago, there was no red or blue – it was simply red, white AND blue.
I remember standing at a candlelit vigil at the U.S. Capitol, surrounded by Hill staffers. It was dark, but tiny lights danced in the reflecting pool. The warm glow illuminated the faces gathered to mourn the Americans lost just across the bridge at the Pentagon, in the towers of New York, and in a field in Pennsylvania. Fear still shadowed the faces around me. The call to evacuate still echoed in our ears, and like many Americans, the images of tragedy haunted us even as we shut our eyes to pray.
That night was the first of many moments following September 11th where I saw Republicans and Democrats stand side by side, united in their identity as Americans.
The stories of September 11th remind us that the best of America is in the character of our citizens. In response to great tragedy, we saw courage and compassion. In response to great grief, we prayed. Across the country, shared pain built communities bonded by loss and motivated by love. We saw “the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
This weekend we remembered the heroes of that Tuesday morning. We read stories about the man with the red bandanna and recalled the bravery of those aboard Flight 93. We honor their sacrifice by remembering. Their stories remind us: in the midst of their fear, they were calmed by their faith. “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: For thou art with me.”
My faith tells me that what was meant for tragedy, God uses for greatness. What was intended to harm, strengthens. My own experience confirms that while tragedy grows distant in time, it remains vivid in memory. But distance does not diminish the strength I found in that hard time. Â It inspires me again to live in response to the grace I received.
More and more, the grace I received is teaching me to pause and look at my life and ask myself – what do I believe? Am I living it? Or am I believing what I live? If I skirt these questions, I risk accepting a life defined by what I live, rather than what I believe.
As we remember the heroes of September 11th, the tragedy is once again vivid in our memory. But so is the grace we received.  Our nation’s leaders found common ground in their shared resolve to protect our homeland, to preserve our way of life, and to live what we believe as Americans. We believe in freedom. We believe in justice. We believe in the dignity of every human life.
Fifteen years later, the kind of unity that followed September 11th, 2001, seems impossible to find. But the need for patriotic grace, is just as great.
“What we need most right now, at this moment, is a kind of patriotic grace – a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment we’re in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative. That admits affection and respect. That encourages them. That acknowledges that the small things that divide us are not worthy of the moment; that agrees that the things that can be done to ease the stresses we feel as a nation should be encouraged, while those that encourage our cohesion as a nation should be supported.”
Peggy Noonan authored these words eight years ago in her book, Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now. I’ve been re-reading it lately.  It’s a short book, filled with the kind of thoughtfulness I appreciate.  These days, her call for patriotic grace seems just as relevant.
All weekend we’ve remembered the tragedy of that beautiful Tuesday morning in September. My prayer is that this fall we’ll honor the memory of those lost by living what we believe. May we collectively ask ourselves, and our leaders, what do you believe? Are we living it? Or are we believing what we live? May we strive to live in our own lives the kind of grace we long for “in national life: forgiveness and grace; maturity and wisdom.” And may we remember to pray for those elected to lead – this is the kind of election where we remind ourselves, and teach our children, to pray for our leaders, whether we like them or not.
What do I believe? Psalm 27:13-14 * Psalm 23 * Galatians 6:9
