9/11/2001 –
It started off like any other day. I had my to do list and I was working through it. First up, order Charity’s birthday cake. I walked back in the house to a ringing telephone. “Turn on the TV,” was all she said.
The urgency in her voice let me know that this was different.
I turned on the television and I watched as the second plane hit the Trade Center. I was stunned and heartbroken. I immediately hit my knees begging the Lord for mercy for those in that building. I prayed for the families of those trapped. I watched as life as an American changed.
The unthinkable happened. America was brutally attacked on her own soil. Not by a military force – we were prepared for that. We were attacked by terrorists.
I stood stunned as I watched my nation change in a matter of minutes. I witnessed the loss of innocence of my great nation nine years ago on 9/11/2001.
I heard reporters ask for prayers for those trapped in the burning towers. The phrases “God be with us” and “pray for the families’ were spoken by reporters throughout the day of the attacks and the days that followed. Churches filled with people looking for answers. The men and women of Congress sang ‘God Bless America’ on the steps of the Capitol.
In the face of this tragedy, we looked to God for direction and for comfort.
Nine years ago today I witnessed my country and my people change – almost instantly. We came together – our small differences no longer an issue. We stood shoulder to shoulder and supported the families who lost loved ones, we traveled to Ground Zero and Washington, DC to help any way we could, and we gave with dollars, our time and with our prayers. Nine years ago we were a country united, a country preparing to go into battle, a country who had faced a great evil and we survived – and became stronger for it. We were a nation praying to God, a nation recognizing God and a nation who turned her face back to God.
Where are we today? Are we still looking to God for direction? Are we a nation united or divided?
Nine years ago today we looked into the face of evil – and looked beyond it to the Face of God.
Where are we looking today?
Well said.
Amen Mary, I find myself asking the same questions lately but even more today than any other day. I think about how I was “oblivious” until my phone call cause I was living without a TV at the time. Than it was a rush to work to assist the guests who were now stranded cause we had a bunch of bankers at a conference at the hotel I worked at. They were people who worked at or with the companies in the towers. I told my friends the other day, I know I always say I’m a southern girl born in a northern body but there is, and always will be, a touch of NY’er in me when we talk about the resilience of it’s people. In those time’s I’m proud to say I’m a NY’er.