Comfort

fBlessed be the gGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and hGod of all comfort, 4iwho comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in jChrist's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.1 6 kIf we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you lshare in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. 2Corinthians 1; 1-7

Remembering those who still refused to be comforted and never recovered from the horrors of 9/11. If memory serves me correctly, our country had not seen bloodshed on our soil since the Civil War. Up until 10 years ago the bloodshed happened in other countries around the world. Plenty of American blood being shed in other lands. For the war on terror thousands of men and women in our armed forces have been killed. Our country is torn about whether or not we should have entered this new type of warfare.

The Apostle Paul continues:

For we did not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

2Corinthians 1;8-11

So we want to prayerfully support those in uniform and the lives forever changed by the events of 9/11 and to always hold out the Banner of Hope.

Television Event

When I was a kid there were annual television events: once a year you could see The Wizard of Oz and The Sound of Music among others. If you missed it, you had to wait til next year, there were no VHS tapes, DVDs or Blu-rays, no YouTube or other Internet sources for your enjoyment. It also meant that it was usually a family affair. Children in feety pajamas hoping they could make it til the first commercial if they needed "to go." Parents putting aside their book or evening newspaper (there was a morning edition too in those days) to watch a classic with their family.

So I thought, are there really any television events left? Immediately, I thought about the Super Bowl, people still hold Super Bowl parties, bars and restaurants make it special too. It really is An Event. Tuesday September 11th, 2001 was a television event that most Americans watched. I was not one of them not because I didn't have a TV but I was doing something else. I became aware of the event in progress and since I was in the car I tuned into the news via radio. When I arrived at my destination there was a TV on and I witnessed the first Tower to come down, but I didn't stay. The man standing next to me freaked out. I wanted to know what was going on but I didn't want to be glued to the set. I would tune in later that day. Coverage lasted for days. I watched the President address the nation from a bed and breakfast in Queens. That's right, Queens one of the five New York City boroughs is where I was on September 20th, 2001.

As our friend Bob Dylan likes to say, "times they are a changin' " Some parents will not have their children watch the Super Bowl with them since Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. Other parents allow their children to have their own TV's and often parents have a TV in their bedroom. We can watch classic movies anytime and almost anywhere on a laptop. We have gained so much over the years but we have lost a time, date and place for the family to get together around a television event.

*These thoughts were brought on by my latest email from Barnes and Noble. The 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz is out. They even have an ultimate collector's edition. It can sit on your shelf reminding those of us who remember when it was a television event or you can watch it any time with everyone or all by yourself.