try to remember

Try to remember the kind of September
When life was slow and oh, so mellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When grass was green and grain was yellow.
Try to remember the kind of September
When you were a tender and callow fellow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Try to remember when life was so tender
That no one wept except the willow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That dreams were kept beside your pillow.
Try to remember when life was so tender
That love was an ember about to billow.
Try to remember, and if you remember,
Then follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow, follow, follow, follow.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Although you know the snow will follow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December, it's nice to remember,
The fire of September that made us mellow.
Deep in December, our hearts should remember
And follow.

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Sept. 10. Yes, that's right - Sept. 10. The reason I say that day, and not Sept. 11, is because Sept. 10 was the last day that I think the world remmbered the kind of September that is mentioned in the song from the Fantasticks. Ever since Sept. 11, we have not had that kind of day, and so it's an interesting way to think about this anniversary that is commemerated today.
Sept. 10, for all I can remember, was probably much like any other September day. It was a Monday, and I'm sure that it was like any other Monday close to the beginning of a school year. It was also the first full week of work in September - Labor Day having been the week before. My guess is many people rolled over in bed a couple extra times, wishing it was till the weekend, and dreading the fact that there were five work/school days in the week. I don't remember exactly what it was like for me. My wife still was working, so I suspect September 10 involved the usual shuffle for both of us to get ready and get out the door.
I wish I did remember more about September 10. I wish I remembered how I felt that morning. I wish I remembered whether I felt more confident in the world around me.
But, I also wish I remembered more of how I felt on September 11 also.....
I think I have a regret in my life that I never actually heard the initial reports about the two first planes. I do remember that I was on my way to work, and for whatever reason, I didn't have my radio on - whether I was listening to loud music, as I often do on my morning drives, or whether I had just decided to drive to work wihtout any noise - I don't remember.
I wish I remembered more of how I felt when I first heard the news. I wish I remembered how I felt as the news reports came trickling in, and I realized, along with the rest of the world, what was happening to us that day.
There are a few pieces of memory I do have. I do remember wondering "What's going to happen next"? I just knew that more could be coming, and I wondered, in the light of this new world and these new emotions of fear and sadness, what "next" meant.
I do remember the concern my wife and I had when we realized Julie's mom was in D.C. and was possibly at the Pentagon, and I remember trying to talk with Julie and figure out how we were going to find out whether she was OK. I do remember praying in chruch that evening, and I do remember the hymn we sang with voices cracking with tears:

O GOD OUR HELP IN AGES PAST
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.

Under the shadow of thy throne,
still may we dwell secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defense is sure.

There are some things about September 11, 2001 that I do remember, but I feel that now, a mere five years later, I don't remember enough. I don't remember the sting that I felt that day. I don't remember the pain and the tears as strongly as I feel as though I should remember them. I don't remember the way that I, and so many others, were driven to the core of our faith because we thought the very world we were living in was truly ending. There has been a lot of talk over the last 5 years about remembering what happened that day, and there is truly a political aspect of the lack of rememberance. We were bound together as a country and as faithful in God, because many of us felt, like we never had before, that there was nothing in this world that could protect us and bind us together as our faith could. Today, I think a lot of people don't remember. We don't remember what our cause is - not only our political cause and directive, but our spiritual cause. We are called today, just as we were 5 years ago, to turn our eyes onto Christ, and we have not remembered that calling.
It hurts to think about that day, but it doesn't hurt enough. And the hurt that I describe is certainly a lame excuse for hurt compared to so many others that lost so much more, and dug so much deeper than I did.
Hopefully, we will all pause to remember, but also, we will all recall what a great God we have - that He brought us back from that low day. Perhaps we can all remember Him.