For so many of us, September 11, 2001 is not just a day that passed by in our lives like any other. It is a day that has scarred each of us in one way or another. From those that were killed that day, to those of us who answered the call to take up arms in the fight on terrorism. To those who have fallen in the course of that cause or are living with physical or psychological wounds and scars. These are just a few reminders as to why this is more than just a date on a calendar from 2 decades ago. Much like we do for another tragic date in history, that being December 7, 1941, we memorialize it. We set it aside to remember what happened that day, the lives lost, and the changes that have transpired because of it.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed that morning, and the events that resulted in those deaths altered the course of our country. For instance, I never would have thought I would see armed soldiers in American airports. Thankfully, it did not last too long as we now have the TSA (say what we will about the TSA, they do serve a purpose), as well as the creation of the Office of Homeland Security.
I could recount stats and timelines but there are countless sources for that already. What I want us to focus on is a time of reflection. A time to remember where we were that day and what we were doing when we first heard of the news of the attacks. What was our first reaction, was it panic? Were our thoughts of the end of the world? Was it seeking prayer and shelter in God the Father who is a Strong Fortress?
I went to work on September 10, 2001 at 9:00 pm as the Night Manager in a small-town grocery store about 50 miles south of Kansas City, Missouri. It was a typical night of restocking grocery items on shelves and making the products look nice for the next day’s business. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing on the radar for this 21-year-old kid who, at the time, worked 6 nights a week, served one weekend a month in the US Marines, and lived alone, but had plans to get married, an education and a better job.
Of course, that all changed the very next morning. As I was finishing up my duties, my Assistant Night Manager, who had the night off, called me and told me about a plane that flew into the World Trade Center. I did not believe it, for starters, her and I had a great rapport and did a lot of kidding around, and another is that something like this was just so far out there that it was inconceivable. With my work finished up, I rushed home and turned on ABC news and listened to Peter Jennings all day long as I packed my military gear and checked in with my command.
But as I watched the second plane hit the South tower, and then as I watched both towers fall, I will tell you that my first thought was not of the Father, it was of unbelief. No one could do this to us here in America. That was my first reaction. Then it was of all of those people trapped in the buildings, of the people on the planes whose lives on this earth were extinguished in the blink of an eye. We are told this in James 4:14, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
I grieved, yes, for the loss of their earthly lives, the loss that will be felt by their family and friends, but the greatest loss, the greatest tragedy is of those who died so suddenly who were unbelievers. Those that died in their unbelief have no hope in eternity. They will and they are experiencing the wrath of God even now. We do not know when we will depart this earth, whether we are believers or unbelievers, we are not guaranteed tomorrow, not even the next hour. This is one reason why it is so urgent to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to all those that we come into contact with, because we do not know at what point we will pass from this world to the next.
Iron Striking Iron 