I remember 9/11/2001 starting as "just another ordinary day". I was in the office, and headed back to our break room to get something to drink. I had noticed the Internet service was slowing, and people were starting to look at a TV with a look of disbelief on their face. I asked what was going on and someone told me a plane had hit one of the towers in the World Trade Center. I couldn't understand what they were talking about and went back to my cube to look on the Internet. Well, the Internet at the point was not only slow it was pretty much down - I couldn't get onto any news sites or anything. So, I went back to the break room and someone was telling me what the announcers were saying (our TV was very old and had no captions). Suddenly, we watched as the SECOND plane hit the towers! Talk about shock. I could not believe that something like this had happened. As the day continued, we learned that a third plane had hit the Pentagon and a fourth plane, also headed for DC, had been taken over by passengers and had crashed in Pennsylvania. We had two members of our office out in DC at the time, and were glad that they were safe. It took a while for them to get home, one person literally got into a car with about 4-5 other people and they dropped passengers off along the way. That evening, my local parish had a prayer service so we could pray for all of the victims, and for our country. I was so glad I was able to go and pray with my faith community on that horrible day.
I got this picture off the Internet. It shows, clockwise from top left, the first plane hitting, the second plane hitting, the crash in Pennsylvania, and the hit on the Pentagon. All told, the attackers killed 2,977 people that day. So many people have asked the question - "Where was God that day?" I always want to tell them - God was EVERYWHERE that day! He was in the little slow-downs that caused a few people to miss their flight - that then crashed into one of the Towers. He was in the firefighters and first responders that went UP INTO THE TOWERS that were burning to rescue the hurt. He was in the men and women that helped carry handicapped people down hundreds of flights of steps in the Towers. He was in the simple, everyday people that reached out and helped each other that day. He was in the boat drivers who got people home from Manhattan since the bridges and roads were closed. He was also in the planning of the Pentagon - the plane crashed into the ONE SECTION of the Pentagon that had been recently reinforced. If it had hit anywhere else, many more people could have been killed!
God was in the mind and hearts of those men who took over United Airlines Flight 93 and refused to let the hijackers take it to DC. All of those passengers gave their lives that day in Shanksville, PA. They knew they were taking a great risk - and still did it.
There are many, many more heroes of 9/11 - there will never be enough space to name them all. They include the firefighters and search dogs who searched for survivors in the days after the attacks; the workers from the Salvation Army and other groups who constantly provided coffee, food, a listening ear and a kind word. Then, we have the firefighters who raised the American flag much like the Marines did on Iwo Jima. That picture never fails to make my heart swell with pride and gratitude that I live in the greatest country on this earth.
We will never, ever forget those who died, even though we do not know their names. (This link lists all the victims.) We will never, ever forget those who helped, reached out, comforted and healed. Our God is an Awesome God. Yes, many people died that day. But He was there with each one of them, and He prevented many more from sharing their fate.
This last picture is from a tribute that happened on 9/11/2008. Two big blue lights were shone up in the sky, one from each of the sites of the fallen towers. The picture is breathtaking and shows, to me, how deep and immense God's love is - and how it can penetrate any darkness that a person may be feeling. May God bless the survivors, and the families of the victims of 9/11.
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