Facing the Evil of 9/11

I am reading the latest John Grisham novel: The Confession. Grisham is a writer who knows how to get the reader turning pages quickly. He usually pulls you along at a healthy pace. But in this particular novel he adds to his usual techniques, the impending execution of an innocent man. So the pages turn even faster as the reader feels there is no time to lose in solving the problem.

It was Samuel Johnson who noted that:“when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” But it is not simply the anticipation of disaster that concentrates the mind. Disaster itself focuses our faculties upon the matters of significance.

With wealth comes the acquisition of meaningless and tiresome possessions. With suffering comes evaluation of what really matters in life. It is in the bush fire and the flood that we have to choose the things that really matter to us: family and human life above possessions, and even pets; the irreplaceable photos and memorabilia of life above the gadgets and technology for which we pay so much.

The writer of Ecclesiastes observed:

“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (Ecc 7:2-4)

This is not for a moment to say that suffering is good or death is desirable. The wisdom we gain comes at the cost of pain and horror. It is the wisdom gained by seeing the evil in suffering and the wickedness of death. It is the wisdom that we learn from the awfulness of this world’s cruelty.

SBS recently aired a show, which recounted the disaster of September 11. They interviewed some people who were involved with the disaster. The sobering lessons they learnt were profound. None would choose to go through the horror of the experience but all learnt to evaluate life, their priorities, their family, friends and themselves differently. To read more, click here.

Related article: Reflection on 9/11 Ten Years On