It’s hard to believe it happened twenty years ago but on September 11 people throughout the world, especially those living in the US, will be remembering the deadliest terrorist attacks in world history, the day when almost 3000 people were murdered, and a further 6,000 injured.

As I’ve reflected on the upcoming anniversary it has struck me that the attack on the Twin Towers is similar to the current covid pandemic in that they are both salutary reminders that we are not in ultimate control of our lives. Death is an ever-present enemy even though we find all sorts of ways to ignore this unpalatable truth. As one palliative care specialist has said ‘Whether we like it or not society’s greatest taboo – death and dying – has been thrust unequivocally centre stage’. It was twenty years ago and has been again over the past twenty months.

The fear of death of course is nothing new. Indeed, it has been suggested that it is what distinguishes humans from animals. I am not qualified to comment on that, but I do know it’s what makes the Christian message such good news. As a friend of mine wrote recently “The good news of Easter Day is that coronavirus need no longer have the last word. In C.S. Lewis’ powerful words, ‘He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so’.”

It was certainly different for the great John Wayne according to a former colleague of mine. The great cowboy it seems, was a great fan of the American evangelist Robert Schuller and sent a note to his teenage daughter when he was told she was recovering from a serious operation. She replied by telling him that Jesus was going to help her and that she hoped he was a Christian because she didn’t think heaven would be complete if he wasn’t there.

Somewhat amazingly one of her visitors was having dinner with Wayne later that very same day and he was able to take her reply to him. As he read it Wayne began to cry and he pointed to the man who delivered it to him and said: “You go tell that little girl that right now, in this restaurant, right here, John Wayne gives his heart to Jesus Christ and I will see her in heaven.” Three weeks later the great American hero died.

Now I have no way of proving the veracity of that story although I do trust the source. But true or not it is a salutary reminder that we are not in control as much as we would like to think and that in the final analysis, we all need to reflect on the hope that Jesus can give us. As someone has wisely pointed out there are actually two preachers at a Christian funeral. One is clearly death that shouts “That’s it. It’s all over. Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The other is the Christian preacher who shakes his fist in death’s face and says “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”