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Look and Love

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)

September 11 is a day etched into our collective memory. We remember the lives lost, the families forever changed, the first responders who ran toward danger, and the fear and uncertainty that rippled across our nation and around the world.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A quarter century has passed, yet the memories, grief, courage, and lessons of that day remain with us. Twenty-five years later, we remember.

And as we remember, the words of 1 Chronicles 16:11 speak with renewed urgency:

“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.”

These words were offered to a people who understood uncertainty and transition. David reminds Israel that their security ultimately rested not in their own strength, resources, or ability to predict what would happen next, but in the presence and power of God. That message still speaks.

When we are uncertain… look to the Lord.

When we are unclear… look to the Lord.

When we are confused and do not know which direction to take… look to the Lord.

When our strength seems gone and our world feels upside down… look to the Lord.

Looking to God does not mean looking away from the pain of the world. Faith does not ask us to ignore suffering, injustice, violence, hatred, or division. Rather, seeking the face of God should change how we face the world.

We look to God and find hope strong enough to resist despair.

We look to God and pursue peace courageous enough to reject hatred and violence.

We look to God and work for justice that recognizes the sacred worth and dignity of every human being.

September 11th reminds us how quickly life can change. It also reminds us that in moments of unimaginable darkness, ordinary people can choose extraordinary compassion helping strangers, carrying one another, comforting the grieving, and standing together.

Perhaps remembrance calls us to more than looking backward. It calls us to ask: What will we do with the memory? Remembrance should move us toward reconciliation, compassion, understanding, and action.

There is another dimension to 1 Chronicles 16:11. Our look to God determines how people look to us. If we continually seek God’s face, something about God’s character ought to become visible in ours. If we look to the God of love, people should encounter love when they look at us. If we look to the God of peace, people should encounter peacemakers when they look at us. If we look to the God of justice, people should see us standing with those who have been marginalized, overlooked, or oppressed. If we look to God for grace, we should extend grace. If we look to God for mercy, we should practice mercy. If we look to God for strength, that strength should enable us to lift somebody else.

What we behold should shape what we become.

That makes “seek His face always” more than a private spiritual discipline. It becomes a public witness.

The question is not only, “Am I looking to God?”

The question is also, “When people look at me, what do they see?”

Do they see hope or despair?

Peace or hostility?

Compassion or indifference?

Justice or convenience?

Love or fear?

In a world where people are searching for signs that hope is still possible, our lives can become part of the answer.

Let’s Act: From Remembrance to Action

So as we commemorate September 11, let us do more than remember.

Choose hope. Encourage someone who is discouraged and speak possibility where despair has taken root.

Practice peace. Reach across a difference. Listen before responding. Refuse language that dehumanizes another person.

Pursue justice. Notice those whose suffering is easily overlooked. Speak when silence would be easier. Stand for dignity, equity, belonging, and opportunity.

Love your neighbor. Especially the neighbor who does not look like you, worship like you, come from where you come from, or see the world exactly as you do.

And seek God’s face. Ask, God, what would You have me see? Who would You have me see? What would You have me do?

Because 1 Chronicles 16:11 is simply not just to look up. It is to allow what we encounter when we look to God to determine how we show up.

When the world feels upside down, we may not always know what to do.

But we know where to look.

Look to the Lord. Look to His strength. Seek His face always.

And may our look to God determine how people look to us.

May they look at us and see hope.

May they look at us and experience peace.

May they look at us and witness justice.

May they look at us and encounter love.

Then remembrance becomes action, faith becomes witness, and we become closer toward living in hope, peace, and justice.

Let’s Pray:

God of hope, peace, and justice, as we remember September 11, 2001, comfort those who still carry grief and strengthen those whose lives were forever changed. In uncertain times, turn our eyes toward You. As we seek Your face, transform our hearts so that Your character becomes visible through our lives. When others look at us, may they see hope instead of despair, peace instead of division, justice instead of indifference, and love instead of hatred. Give us strength not simply to look to You but to live differently because we have. Amen.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Sondrea L. Tolbert, J.D., M.Div.

Executive Director & CEO

Scarritt Bennett Center