The Well Palmdale, CA

Today is a day that I'm sure many of you remember.  It's a very important day in our nation's history.  I remember when I was in grade school...about the 4th grade.  We had this regular sub who we all got to know over the years, Mrs. Krater.  She was telling us about the assassination of JFK one day and she said that she even remembered what she was wearing that day.  It was a day that she could never forget. 

I guess I was just young and naive...I never thought that there would be anything that would impact me like that.  I was wrong. 

I remember 9-11-01 very vividly.  I was in my dorm room at Concordia University Chicago.  I had an appointment that day with an academic advisor to make sure I was on track to graduate.  That was an appointed I never made.  I woke up to a bunch of construction workers talking right outside my window.  My roommate and I both heard the men saying something about a building in New York City getting hit by a plane.  We turned on the TV with just enough time to see the second plane hit.  We were glued to the TV.  I watched a little more coverage on CNN and then headed on over to the chapel where it seemed like our whole student body was there.  We all just prayed.  Some students knew people in New York...some were just shocked that something like that could happen like that on our soil. 

The next few weeks were weird.  Our school was fairly close to O'Hare Airport and we would always have planes going over our campus.  It was a familiar sound.  On 9-11 and then for over a week afterward...the air was silent except the occasional fighter jet.  You could go to the top of our parking garage and see downtown Chicago.  You could clearly see, what normally seemed like a vibrant city skyline, wasn't anymore.  Even the skyline seemed nervous and worried.  The only activity were two Harrier jets who made almost a permanent home over the Sears Tower and the Hancock building.  It was weird. 

In the days following we attempted to get back to normal with things, but it was always hard.  I remember the first time a commercial plane flew over our heads.  I was on my way to class and I was walking amongst a handful of other students.  We all looked up with an extremely nervous feeling and stopped whatever we were doing.  Was it a good thing....or a bad thing?  I wasn't sure.  We all moved on with the same look on our faces "I hope that was a good thing."  Later on that day a few others flew overhead and it felt better...more like we could move on and not just sit around and wait for something else bad to happen (I've realized that that is not a good way to live). 

To this day, I've never seen people more fervent in prayer and devotion to Christ.  Even on a Christian college campus, I was impressed over how people were clinging to the cross during their time of both shock and mourning.  It was a place that we all needed to be, because we knew that it was the only place that was sure...true...and strong. 

It was a day that I hope I never forget...not because I knew someone who died in the twin towers, but because we, as a nation, had to come face to face with our own vulnerability.  We are vulnerable as a nation...and as people.  Now, don't take this the wrong way...9-11 was a tragedy, and this is not a theological discourse on why God allowed this to happen...this issue is far more complicated than can be covered in this blog...but one thing I learned was that God really wants us to be vulnerable and occasionally He needs to remind us that vulnerability is a good state to be in.  He doesn't want us protecting ourselves or relying on other people to be our "rock" and our "protector"...people and stuff and organizations will fail...strength and protection is His job...and He does it perfectly every time.  I don't want to forget this day because it's a day where I remember how I am not invincible...my country is not invincible...and nobody on this earth is either.  That's a good thing for us to remember.  We are all weak...and we all need God's perfect strength.  I am vulnerable...how about you?

0 Comments | Login to Post Comments