Over this past week, I have had sleepless nights in contemplating a response to the 15th Anniversary of 9/11. I remember the event well in nearly every detail of that day. It was before my call, but even then I was torn in my response. Now that I am an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and even more importantly having given my life to a Lord that absorbed such violence in his own body on the cross for redemption rather than retaliation, I am even more at odds with the “American response”. I found the this article by Derek Vreeland frames it well for me: http://www.missioalliance.org/christian-memory-911/. I would only add one additional thought. Over these past years in our “war on terrorism” I have wondered how many memorable moments like 9/11 we have created for the people of the Middle East. This thought became especially sharp in the recent trip of President Obama to Hiroshima, Japan.