as i was driving home tonight i noticed the flags at half staff. i can only assume in remembrence of the day that it is today, Sept. 11, marking the 6th anniversary.
i got to thinking...right after the attacks America was united as ever before. people were flocking to their churches, embracing their neighbors, doing whatever they could to make sense of the situation. i wonder now though, have things gone back to the way they were before? churches are no longer filled to capacity. a welcoming hug is harder to find. is Sept 11 just another date on the calendar? i even find myself guilty of this sometimes. sometimes it all seems like another world.
i cant even imagine what it must have been like to be one of the victims-one minute sitting at your desk working, the next jumping for your life. when i heard about it i was sitting at the church (i was a church secretary) listening to the radio. the pastor comes in and tells me more details then tells me to go home. driving home it was eerie. i was living in Greensboro, NC and the airport was nearby. we were used to seeing planes come and go, but that morning the sky was silent. like most Americans i was drawn to the TV all day. i remember calling my folks just to see if they were alright, even though they were in Tx. i was so scared.
and then in the days and weeks that followed people asked where was God? why would He let that happen? i confess i too thought the same at times. but then i came across this poem, and it just hit me deep down.
You say you will never forget where you were when you heard the news, Sept. 11, 2001. Neither will I.
I was on the 110th floor in a smoke filled room with a man who called his wife to say "Good-bye." I held his fingers steady as he dialed. I gave him the peace to say, "Honey, I am not going to make it, but it is OK...I am ready to go." I was with his wife when he called as she fed breakfast to their children. I held her up as she tried to understand his words and as she realized he wasn't coming home that night.I was in the stairwell of the 23rd floor when a woman cried out to me for help. "I have been knocking on the door of your heart for 50 years!" I said. "Of course I will show you the way home -- only believe on Me now."I was at the base of the building with the Priest ministering to the injured and devastated souls. I took him home to tend to his Flock in Heaven. He heard my voice and answered.I was on all four of those planes, in every seat, with every prayer. I was with the crew as they were overtaken. I was in the very hearts of the believers there. Comforting and assuring them that their Faith has saved them.I was in Texas, Kansas, London. I was standing next to you when you heard the terrible news. Did you sense Me? I want you to know that I saw every face. I knew every name-though they did NOT all know Me. Some met me for the first time on the 100th floor. Some sought me out in their last breath. Some couldn't hear me calling to them throughout the smoke and flames, "Come to Me...this way...take my hand." Some chose, for the final time, to ignore Me. But, I was there.I did not place you in the Tower that day--you may not know why, But I DO. However, if you were there in that explosive moment in time, would you have reached for Me? September 11, 2001, was not the end of the journey for you. But someday your journey will end. And I will be there for you as well. Seek Me now while I may be found. Then, at any moment, you know you are "ready to go." I will be in the stairwell of your final moments.God
Copyright©2002 Stacey Randall
if you'd like to share your stories of where you were at, what you were doing, etc when you heard the news i'd love to hear.
i pray we as a Nation will not let this ever just become another date on the calendar.
3 comments:
Yeah, I put my thoughts about this in my blog.
I was working at the bank at the time. It was unusually slow that morning - ominous. Then things just fell apart after that.
A coworker lost his fiancee in the twin towers.
I was doing my internship in an elementary school. We were in a meeting at block when the principal came in and gave us the news. We decided not to let the children in the classrooms know. However, it was too late. When we picked up the students from block, the teachers had had the TV on and the students knew what had happened. We went back to the classroom and then questions began. "Can it happen here?" "Are we safe?" "Are my mom and dad safe?" "Why would people do that?" It was hard to answer the questions but we answered what we could and then tried to complete the day as normally as possible. I ended the school day with 5 students left in my class because parents had come and gone all day picking up students. I went home and hugged my children. They were 5 years old and 9 months old at the time. It was not until the next day that it really hit me. You see, we can not speak of God in the school as teachers unless the students bring it up first and they lead a discussion. One student asked the next mornig why we did not have a moment of silence or prayer for all those people and their families when we had had prayer a year earlier for one boy who had died in an accident. I could not answer and before I attempted to the students got out of there seats quietly and began to make a circle around the room. The students then began to pray and have a moment of silence. I was so amazed as there was no discussion of what was to happen. The students just seemed to know as if they were being directed. I stood there and watched this unfold knowing that God was there. For the rest of the day there seemed to be an awesome peace over the class.
jj, that is awesome what the kids did all on their own. great testimony.
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