Every generation has a significant moment that defines their lives and those of their peers. I would say that it was 911 for many people my age. My children might say COVID. My older brothers might say the assassinations of JFK or MLK. It is one of those things that you remember where you were when you heard the news.
For my father’s generation, it would be the early Sunday morning bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. There was an announcement made that day in church in Mulvane Methodist Church. Everyone was told to go home and pray for our country. The next day, Stewart remembers sitting in his high school classroom and staring out of the window and thinking how this would change his life.
Floyd Francis Clifford, a sailor aboard the USS Oklahoma was a local boy from his hometown of Mulvane, KS. Floyd was a few years older than Stewart. His remains were never found and his name appears on the monument at Pearl Harbor.
We have arrived in France and Parisians might say that their defining moment was the Fire of Notre Dame. It reopened this weekend to much pomp and circumstance. There were crowds of people who were eager to see the church. However, this does not mean that the restoration is complete … just that the church is being the church once again. It is open to serve those who seek the Savior.
What is your defining moment?
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