AFTERWARDS

Everyone remembers September 11, 2001.

We remember where we were.
We remember what we saw.
We remember what we lost.

But I wonder if we remember enough about September 12.

And September 13.
And yes, even today, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Because something happened to us in those days.

We weren’t suddenly different people.

But somehow, we became more human.

We checked on strangers.
We hugged a little tighter.
We listened a little longer.
We cared a little more.

The things that divided us seemed smaller than the things that connected us.

Michael W. Smith’s “There She Stands” asks us to look at what remains standing when everything else has been shaken.

Maybe that’s the question worth asking today:

What happened to the people we were on September 12?

They’re still in there.

The compassion is still there.
The kindness is still there.
The willingness to reach across the aisle, the street, the difference, and simply say, “Are you okay?”—it’s still there.

Maybe we don’t need another September 11 to remind us.

Maybe we simply need to remember September 12.

And then live like it.

Be the person who checks.
Be the person who listens.
Be the person who cares.

Because sometimes the most important thing that stands after a tragedy isn’t a building, a monument, or a flag.

IT IS US