There was nothing particular about today's date to suggest doing so. It was just time for me to watch the movie, United 93. This is not another typical piece of Hollywood schmaltz "based on a true story." A puzzle is assembled using fragments of knowledge even while admitting that some of the pieces are missing. Here is the account from writer/director Paul Greengrass of what transpired on United flight 93 before it crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on the morning of September 11, 2001.
The movie and accompanying documentary (featuring family members of those who died) left me silent, contemplative, sad, and uneasy. But United 93 gave me something else, a gift. Solomon once declared, It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man, and the living takes it to heart (Eccl. 7:2). There is a benefit that living people receive when they mourn and honor the dead. United 93 invites us to enter the house of mourning and to receive the gift of perspective.
The irony is striking, almost palpable, as we watch ordinary people doing ordinary things, all the while KNOWING what they do not, that these are the last precious moments of their lives. Who cannot watch and ask himself, "Could this be me? What is the measure of my life if this moment is it's finale? How will my final moments serve to define who I am?"
Don't watch this if you are emotionally tender right now. But if you want to put the strains and stresses of life into perspective, skip your next dinner-party and come to the house of mourning that is United 93. It will help.
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