Remembering 9-11
The day after 9/11 felt like a heavy blanket had been dropped on the country. Daily life was overshadowed by a sense of grief and confusion. So many questions were being asked, “How could this happen?” “Who would do this to innocent people?” In the days that followed, I recall the country pulling together as people came from all around to help search through the rubble for any signs of life.
I remember going about my normal daily routine all the while thinking, “How can life just go on as usual when so many have died and so many more are hurting from their loss?” In respect for them I felt the need to hold my breath, to stop moving forward, to be silent, to do something, give up something that would say I acknowledged their pain, I felt their loss.
Before the dust settled, we went to war. A message was sent by those who lost their lives on that day in September. The message was embodied in the heart of each soldier that stepped foot on that foreign soil. It was a message that we are a united people, one nation under God indivisible, and we would not just go about our normal daily routine and live our lives like nothing had happened. An evil thing had been done to our brothers and sisters, our fellow Americans, and we could not in good conscience let it pass.
I had a lot of questions for God that day, most of which began with “Why?” There was so much I didn’t understand and still don’t, but this I do – God is good…all the time. He doesn’t plan evil. It is the evil plans of man and the bad seeds of sin sown in their hearts that grow into plans for destruction of innocent lives.
Much time has passed since that day in September, but I will always remember it. I pray that God’s healing and peace will continue to touch the people who suffered loss that day, and that we remember to say a prayer for them today and every year to come, on 9/11.
I will never forget that morning of 9/11. It seems like it was only yesterday at times. I’ve visited the site twice since then. I am from Long Island and always looked at the twin towers as I drove into the city.
None of us need ever forget to pray for our nation always.
I may never know the “why” what happened on 9-11, but I do know that I can trust God to heal the land.