On a typical day there are some 76,000 flights across the United States of America. But on 14th September 2001 there was just one aircraft in the air. All other planes had been grounded in the aftermath of the appalling attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. But who was on that one flight? The President? The Director of the CIA? No. It was a farmer’s son from North Carolina. In one of the darkest hours in its history the United States turned to Billy Graham for hope and comfort and he was on his way to preach at the National Memorial Service in Washington.
Sometimes criticised for the simplicity of the message that he preached, Billy Graham spoke that day of the simple truths revealed in the Bible, that affirm the victory of good over evil and love over hate: that a God of love created a perfect world and created us for relationship with Him; that that relationship has been marred by sin and our rejection of Him; but that in His love for us God has provided a Saviour – Jesus Christ who died for us and rose again. Graham reminded the world that the resurrection of Jesus gives us a certain hope no matter how dark the day.
