Griffin Speaks

Why Not Try GOD?

The events occurring on Tuesday, September 11,2001, will forever be on the minds of every conscious human being inhabiting the face of the earth. I like many other Americans have been glued to my television seeking every bit of information that I can obtain. I send condolences to my readers in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.  

To see innocent people murdered by terrorists shocked me. Scenes of aircraft intentionally flying into the occupied World Trade Center were surreal. I immediately began to call and check on my friends and family that were possibly in harms way.  I was able to reach several of my closest friends. My friend Jeh Johnson, former General Counsel to the United States Air Force was fine. He was watching the horrifying event from an office window in his law firm at Paul Weiss. I called my best friend, C. Howie Hodges II a frequent traveler. Howie was safe in Connecticut. I called David Shlavdovsky, a friend from BU now residing in Los Angeles. David has flown flight 11 many times. David was fine. I called Doug Stevens and many other close friends on the East Coast and West Coast everyone was alive. I thanked God.

When my son, Greg Jr. was seven years old he asked me to take him to New York. We flew to B.W.I. and rented a car. We drove to Hoboken, New Jersey and traveled by train into New York City. The World Trade Center was one of the places that we toured. Greg took his pictures to school to share with his classmates.

Why did God let this happen? I have found some comfort in reading a book written by Mary Pickford. In her book she says: “If you had a million dollars in the bank but didn’t know how to write a check, it wouldn’t do you much good, would it? If you had a car in your garage but had lost the key with which to start it, you wouldn’t get anywhere very fast, would you? That’s about the way humanity is operating today. Quite a few years ago, when I was unhappy and greatly troubled, I found out how I can call upon a power that, if I used the right key, would always give me everything I needed . . .  Why not try God?”

On Sunday, September 9, 2001, my pastor Bennie Liggins delivered a powerful sermon. A sermon that I will forever remember. One of the last things he said before the benediction was that we could be one decision away from humility. Two days later America was brought to her knees.

Our leaders should seriously evaluate our relationship with God. This nation is a blessed nation, because  God has smiled on us. Americans are some of the most benevolent people in the world. Are we still pleasing God with our decisions around the World? The problems in the Middle East are moving closer to home. We must do something to prevent another disaster. We are all in this together. We need to learn more about the world that we live in.! We should try God!

Greg Griffin is a columnist for the historic Montgomery-Tuskegee Times. He can be reached at www.greggriffin.com