Five years ago terror showed up unannounced.
It didn't call ahead.
And because it didn't,
when we opened the door to see who was there
we discovered three thousand were dead.
Instead of business as usual, Wall Street closed.
A street without walls took stock in what really matters.
Precious metals lacked their normal luster
when compared to precious lives.
The world traded naïve security for open-ended war.
When the Big Apple was shaken to the core by jet-size bullets,
the entire nation quaked.
Caught off guard, Americans didn't fake courage.
Patriotic hearts beat as one but raced in fear.
Seizing whatever faith we had, we fell to our knees.
We could tell that pledging allegiance to a flag
could not take the place of calling out to God.
It was a day that proved that those who live
in the land of the free and the home of the brave
know how to behave when push comes to shove
and terror comes to stay.
We pray. But only then?
The 11th of September calls us to remember (and understand)
that a nation can only be indivisible under God.
We can't just fly a flag. We have to fold our hands.
Suffice it to say, We've been called to pray.
Not just when terror rings the bell. But every single day.
--Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos