“I may never know the answers to the questions that plagued me after 9/11. But I know if we lean on God and each other, we will be guided to a better, brighter future.”
Michael Hingson, 9/11 survivor
There are moments in our lives where we will always be able to point back and say “I know what I was doing at the exact moment I heard.”
I was five and at home in the care of my aunt when my brother came home early from school to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot.
We watched on a black and white television as Neil Armstrong took that first step on the surface of the moon.
I was on tour with a ministry team from my college when I received the call that my father had passed.
I was at home between jobs, watching television before hitting the pavement again, when the news came of the Challenger explosion.
I was at work when the news of the shooting at Virginia Tech started coming across the Internet. I watched our office intern, and later my son, frantically trying to reach their friends.
And, twenty-two years ago this morning…
Twenty-two years ago this morning, our nation endured perhaps the most horrific attack against our citizens on our own soil. Make no mistake. We were attacked just because there are people who hate us for who we are.
Or perhaps who we were.
We were glued to the television or the Internet, horrified, but unable to turn away. We cried. We prayed. We flooded our houses of worship. We stood in line to give blood. We cheered a President with a bullhorn.
We promised that we would never be the same. That we would be better people.
I’m pretty sure we got the never be the same part.
I’m not so sure about being better people.
I’m not going to preach. I’m not going to get all political.
Twenty-two years ago, on a bright clear September morning, our world stopped.
Sometime today, stop, even if just a for a few minutes. Spend some time thinking about that morning. Spend some time reflecting. Spend some time meditating.
Maybe spend some time praying.
The incredible musical Come From Away tells the remarkable true story of 7,000 passengers who were stranded in Gander, Newfoundland and who were welcomed and cared for by the citizens of the town.
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There are moments in our lives where we will always be able to point back and say “I know what I was doing at the exact moment I heard.”
