Eleven years ago Tuesday, our country was reeling from a terrorist attack that took hundreds of innocent American lives, including men, women, and children. When the planes flown by foreign terrorists flew into the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in D.C. and crashed in a Pennsylvania field, the lives of Americans were changed forever. We had been attacked on our homeland, a place where most felt safe from the type of devastation that took place that day. We watched in unbelievable horror as the photos of the planes hitting the towers were aired over and over again that day and for many more to come.

Americans pulled together to help in so many ways. They donated blood, firemen and policemen from around the country headed to New York, and we prayed. Folks who had not given God a thought in many years were praying that day. Americans were praying that more planes would not fly into buildings, that their children would be safe from harm, and that those trapped in the buildings could be found. Americans turned to God that September day. Churches were filled for special prayer services and their doors were opened, offering hope to our nation. Bibles were probably taken from shelves and opened, looking for answers and trying to grow closer to God. People longed for God in ways they had abandoned. America needed God and He was there. “God Bless America” could be heard throughout the land.

Fast forward eleven years and things have really changed. America has not been attacked at home and the feeling of security has come back. Lives of American soldiers have been sacrificed on foreign soil to keep our homeland safe, but as long as we do not feel threatened at home we go back to our daily lives. God goes to the back burner again when all is well.

It even seems to some Americans that God does not even need to be mentioned or included. In fact at the mention of His name, the sound of booing was heard at the Democratic convention. It tears at the hearts of many Americans when our flag is burned in a foreign country, but the thought that at the mention of the name of God people would actually “boo” just almost seems unbelievable. Our nation needs God now more than ever. At a time when we need to draw closer, so many want to remove Him. There is a day coming, and sooner than many may think, that “every knee will bow before Him.”

Randy Garrison is the publisher of the Hartselle Enquirer.