Standing Firm in Time of Crisis

Sunday, December 7, 1941, was declared by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a "date which will live in infamy".

Certainly it was a day that had an enormous effect on the course of history, for the United States and the world, because the surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor that day, as well as other military installations in the Pacific Ocean, drew the United States into World War II.

Looking back 75 years later, most of us see the occasion as a day of remembrance because of the loss of life and how it launched US entry into World War II against Japan, as well as Germany.  We can see with the perspective of history to recognize the lasting effects of that day went through the years of World War II, and then into the Cold War, and even the recent War on Terror.

This Pearl Harbor day of remembrance makes me think about an event of a similarly immense scale that happened in my own lifetime, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Even as a child, I felt the great anxiety pierce the air as the foundations of the world shook violently and we realized we were vulnerable in ways that we never could have imagined.  And it slowly dawned on us that this would be a day that would totally alter the course of history.  Yet we've gained a good deal of distance from that day--15 years now, so that September 11 is already taking on an air similar to the sense of Pearl Harbor's being an honored day of historic significance and remembrance.  But with my experience, I'll always carry with me memories seared in my mind of the distress of that day.

It makes me think about those who were alive on December 7, 1941, and witnessed the unfolding of a disaster and tragedy.  Then their lives were swept up into the war effort.  When the United States entered World War II, my Grandpa Martin, at the threshold of adulthood, went from a farm in Iowa to join the fight as a member of the US Navy--sort of the reverse of the Isaiah prophecy that speaks of turning weapons into farm tools.

Then there were those on the homefront like my Grandma Dottie and her family, who focused tirelessly on conserving their resources and contributing money to the war effort.  No matter how large or small their contribution, the people sacrificed to secure a victory by the Allied Powers.  Somehow, they pulled through it together and made it through a time of darkness, anxiety, and great uncertainty.

Perhaps the experience of what Tom Brokaw dubbed "the Greatest Generation" can teach us something about how each generation, when faced with crisis, can come stand together and face it head on, and somehow triumph.  Even in our own day, we can face the troubles before us, ultimately with confidence that one day, God will restore justice to the Earth, and all will be at peace in Him.