Could 9-11 have happened in Toronto? I say Toronto, because of course that is my hometown. But do you wonder if it could have happened where you live rather than in New York City?
Why do you think terrorists picked New York City? Well, first off, there are lots of people there. Secondly, there are people of every nationality there. Third, there are lots of high-rise buildings in NYC.
So could that terrible day have been in Toronto? Probably!
Do you ever think how you would have felt if one of your loved ones had been in one of those buildings that day, nine years ago?
We have a grandson who had just left one of the buildings at the World Trade Center and we were really relieved to hear he was all right.
Do you remember Peter Jennings actually crying on the air during the long hours he spent at his ABC news desk that day? (Peter was born in Toronto, you know.)
Do you remember what it felt like to see planes purposely crashing into skyscrapers? Was there a sick feeling in your stomach, in your heart? Was your head clouded with "why"?
Then, this year, did you have a sick feeling in your stomach when a minister in Florida thought he could square it away by burning the Koran, the Muslim holy book?
Tolerance for others and their beliefs is part of what Christians learn and try to live. If you live in New York City or Toronto, you learn about tolerance or you move away. People of all ethnicities live in both of those cities.
There has to be respect for the differing beliefs of all those people. Lots of people do not believe the same things you do. That is part of what makes the world rotate on its axis. Learning to understand that is a prerequisite for living in a multi-cultural environment. That is tolerance.
Those same people with difference ideas and perhaps different appearance from you also keep the economy growing, invent new objects and ideas. Some have wonderful knowledge about technology. In both those cities there are lots of people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. Those people work hard to be there and many work hard to put themselves or their children through university. Those very people may one day invent a cure for cancer or one of the other diseases that plague us on a daily basis. They may eat different foods, believe different truths and have a different appearance than you. But if you look inside their hearts, you will find there is a lot we have in common.
In every society, every race and every ethnicity, there are good guys and bad guys. Remember the Cowboys and Indians you watched as a kid? Of course, that is not too politically correct these days, but perhaps it is a similar concept.
Today we have bank robbers, home invaders, drug dealers. People ride around using their cars in a fashion that makes you think they are about to get someone killed, so perhaps it was not all that outrageous that someone thought to pilot a plane into a skyscraper. That literally took violence to a new level.
I cannot tell you why some people believe their action against United States on that day gave them a special place in the hereafter. I just know that in my religious beliefs, that special place is probably a lot worse than what we ever have to endure here on planet earth.
No more than you, do I have an answer as to why someone got an idea to turn an invention - the air plane - that has allowed us to travel in short times what would have taken days on a steamship, train or automobile before - into a weapon like no other.
Nine years later, we have still no answer for that.
What we do have to know is that each of us must do the best we can in our own little part of this world. We volunteer to help; we quietly do things for others that they do not expect; we do our job - at home or at work - the best we know how. We love our children, our families, our neighbours and we believe and hope that each day will end with some quiet restful time.
There is no place in our hearts for hatred of people of other cultures, other skin colors, other ways. Our ways are not everyone else's ways. We must pray that tomorrow and every other day goes smoothly and peacefully for not just for where we live but for everyone everywhere.
Don't forget to put your flag out and God Bless us All!
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