22nd Anniversary: Remembering 9/11
Photo courtesy of Aaron Lee
“Now is the time to change everything. America and Americans must take the lead in practicing ‘Love your enemy,’” said True Father following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. Today as we remember the 22nd anniversary of the devastating attacks that claimed nearly 3,000 lives and deeply impacted America and the world, we recommit ourselves to the spirit of unity, patriotism, and service that carried our nation through in the days that followed.
Prior to 9/11, True Father had planned a World Clergy Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony of 12,000 couples on September 22 at Madison Square Garden. The events of 9/11 meant canceling the ceremony, but it also challenged the interreligious and world peace premise upon which it was based. In the days after the World Trade Center’s destruction, Unificationist leaders and American Clergy Leadership Conference (ACLC) clergy who were in town for the ceremony ministered directly to bereaved families, as well as to police, firefighters, and others at the site of the attack. Many even went out on the first night.
In the immediate wake of 9/11, Unificationists sought True Father’s guidance. He was in Kodiak, Alaska, at the time, where Dr. Chang Shik Yang, then the Special Emissary to the Americas, reported True Father remained alone in prayer for the next three days and did not appear in public. True Father soon canceled the clergy Blessing and on Sept. 18 flew to New York City.
“Jesus was on the cross, now America stands on the cross of the world,” True Father said upon his arrival, urging religious leaders to take the lead in responding to the 9/11 attacks. “They must unite beyond their religion and guide the political leaders of their nations.” True Father asked Unificationists to convene an assembly in October on the theme “Global Violence: Conflict and Hope,” and on November 15 he proclaimed Cheonju Pyeonghwa Tongil Guk (the Nation of Cosmic Peace and Unity).
Just as Christianity emerged from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and the Unification movement rose from the rubble of the Korean War, True Father saw a new world appear from the devastation of 9/11. “God’s heart embraces even His own enemy, and will never denounce or cut him off,” he notably said. “If you have such great love that you can love even your enemy, that power will melt everything.”
“Families, nations, and the whole world are full of resentment, hatred, and conflict,” he continued. “Resentment creates more resentment, and hatred creates more hatred. This way the conflicts in the world cannot come to an end. Only love of the quality of God’s love can make the real difference. It can simply melt all resentment, all hatred, all evil. Only such a love can bring this world back to God and to peace … And we are the ones to be the carriers of such love throughout our life.”
September 11 — also known as Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance — gives us all a time to commemorate those who lost their lives in the terror attacks, give thanks to the brave first responders who put their own lives on the line, and reflect as we continue to practice this transformative concept of world peace: Love your enemy.
You can read the full White House Proclamation on Patriot Day 2023 here.