“I thank the Lord for the good things we have.  Maybe our bad news ain’t so bad.”  Rod Stone

In the next five minutes, how many good things can you think of?  (I strongly encourage you to write them down.)

A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.  (Prov. 15:30; NLT)

Nine and eleven — two simple numbers.  Or is it nine and one and one — three simple numbers?  Isn’t it interesting how meanings of the commonplace can change overnight?

Prior to the late 60’s there was not any universal meaning assigned to these digits other than their rightful place in our numbering system.  According to Wikipedia, in 1968, AT&T in cooperation with the FCC agreed on a single, easily remembered number, equally easy to dial, that could be utilized to report emergencies on a nation-wide basis.  (An interesting aside is that Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada was actually the first North American city to adopt the three-digit dialing sequence almost ten years earlier.)

Then in September of 2001, an event took place which has truly been a pivot point in mankind’s history.  All of a sudden, it was no longer 9-1-1 (or 911), but now it was 9-11 and it had a whole new meaning (even though the earlier meaning remains in place.)  So now, just a short eight years later, I would like to propose it be given yet another meaning.

This thought came to me yesterday when I watched the video created by Rod Stone in which the underlying message that I walked away with was a focus on what’s right about America.  What if 911 went from representing an emergency need (bad news), to representing an unexpected attack on America resulting in  the loss of almost 3,000 innocent civilian lives (more bad news), to representing what’s right about America (good news)?  Maybe such a proposal would be considered politically incorrect in today’s climate, but I’ll take my chances.

The social media has been ablaze with messages to fly the American flag on 9/11, and/or to wear something red.  All well and good, but that is all done in the spirit of looking back and remembering the tragedy of the event.  How much more constructive (and productive, I might add) to fly the flags and wear the red but let those be symbols of what’s right about this country.  I would propose that we displace the human proclivity to focus on the bad for that one day and rally around what’s good.  Nothing to do with politics; nothing to do with religion; everything to do with how blessed we are to be living at this time and in this place.

As Rod writes, “The good news is a soldier’s coming home; And the heart that cries for freedom is still beating strong; Someone’s voting for President; A child has learned how to pray; And that’s good news in the USA today.”

Thank you, Rod, for the reminder of just how blessed we really are.


Prayer Power
Father, we thank You for our many blessings.  Grant us the grace to focus on Your unconditional love rather than get further “worked up” remembering the past.

Link of the Day
USA Today

Blessings on you as you reflect on your blessings today, 9/11.

Photo by James Byrum