Reflections on 9/11

Grown men don't cry, do they? Certainly not at work, right? I guess not... unless it's September 11, 2001.

Intently watching my computer screen on that sunny morning, minding my own business and doing my own work - the phone rings in the next office. "A plane hit one of the World Trade Center buildings" was the report from the caller. I thought it was a small plane... an accident. The second phone call came a little later and this time my gut told me that something wasn't right.

The buzzing started around the office and we all went downstairs to the corporate meeting room that we shared with another company housed in the other half of the building. We sat there speechless. The buildings were burning. There were planes missing. Then the Pentagon. Then the buildings collapsed, one at a time, into a pile of rubble. Still there were no words spoken. We all knew what had just happened to thousands of our countrymen.

I made my way back up the stairs... slowly. My legs felt like lead. The lump in my throat was bigger than it had ever been. I sat down and prayed. Who could work after seeing the unthinkable? The salty tears streamed from my eyes. I mourned for all those people, some of which entered the fiery eternity. I knew that life as we knew it in America had changed forever. Things would never be the same. I had a three-month old baby at home. I worried for him. I worried for his future.

One one hand, my heart aches when we approach this time of year for obvious reasons. But on the other hand, my heart leaps for joy, because God has not abdicated His throne. He is still in control of the affairs of mankind. He is the reason we live and breathe and have our existance. He is who we hope in. He is our trust. He is our protector, our shield, our guide. And because He is, of whom shall we fear???