Storytime

It was the first anniversary of the terrorist bombing of September 11, 2001. The rubble from the World Trade Center had been cleared and the Pentagon repaired, but men and women all across America still mourned the 3,000 lives that were lost on that dark day. In my hometown, a memorial was set up on an expanse of land with a sea of twelve-inch white crosses representing the men and women who died.

Kathy and her family went to see the memorial.  Along with her seventeen-year-old daughter, Heather, Kathy took along her three-year-old niece, Taylor.  It was difficult for young Taylor to understand exactly what was going on and why so many people were sad, but she obediently walked hand-in-hand with her cousin between the tiny crosses.  At some point, little Taylor wandered away from her family.

It was reverently silent as the crowd of mourners looked at the names inscribed on the white memorials.  Some crosses were decorated with flowers, others with Teddy Bears or other memorabilia, but nothing spoke more poignantly than the silence broken by quiet sobs.  Then, as if coming directly from heaven, a small voice could be heard floating on the breeze.  Everyone turned to notice a little girl with outstretched arms twirling in circles among the crosses.

With face lifted toward the sky, she sang...

           "Jesus loves me, this I know. 
For the Bible tells me so. 
Little ones to Him belong. 
We are weak but He is strong. 
Yes, Jesus loves me. 
Yes, Jesus loves me. 
Yes, Jesus loves me. 
The Bible tells me so."
 
Time seemed to stand still as hundreds of mourners turned their attention to one small girl with a big message.  Even in the midst of pain, even with the loss of life, loss of dreams, and loss of hope... Jesus still loves us.  That love can lift the burden of despair, resurrect our dreams, and restore our hope.
In 2 Corinthians 4:6-9 Paul reminds us: "For God who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Jesus loves me...this I know.