The World Series this fall included three improbable ninth-inning comebacks, but one going on now in New York City is even more unlikely. Manhattan's artists, students, and critics are flocking to the Guggenheim Museum, a shrine to abstract art, and admiring an exhibit, 23 years after his death, of the 20th-century American painter most despised by the modern-art establishment.

Two months ago, at 8:50 a.m. on Sept. 11, two Republicans were eating breakfast in New York City. One of them, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, received a message and told the other, businessman Bill Simon, "You won't believe this-the World Trade Center has been hit by a plane."

The two strode out, the mayor heading downtown and the businessman moving on to another meeting in an attempt to garner backers for his campaign to become the next governor of California.

Four years ago, on Oct. 30, 1997, the Centers for Disease Control threw a party. "Come celebrate this important public health achievement," the announcement read: "The global eradication of smallpox is a true triumph of public health."

This World Series is an intriguing one due to the appearance of the Arizona Diamondbacks, led by stellar power pitchers Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. Each can throw at nearly 100 miles per hour. Batting against them is not only a test of eye-hand coordination but a test of courage-and a bit like standing up to terrorists.

I've been studying Islam for the past several years while teaching a "Journalism and Religion" course at the University of Texas. I'm all for people from different religions talking with each other. I'm for the Bush strategy of building an anti-terror coalition that includes Muslim countries.

How, then, should we live in this dangerous new world? Christians have a specific calling to fight spiritual wars through spiritual means. Only a few people act in terroristic ways, but all of us have terroristic thoughts. All of us, including Muslims, can repent and be saved, through God's grace.