I remember where I was when I heard - I was a junior at Jackson Prep, and I was on my way to school. I was right there at the light by the baseball field, turning right. For some reason I had left my CDs at home so I was listening to the radio, which was pretty uncommon for me, but during a commercial break the y101 people said they had just heard that a plane had crashed into one of the buildings at the World Trade Center, but that was all they knew. It was pretty shocking news, but it didn't seem like it was real. I remember saying a quick prayer, getting out of my car and wondering how a plane could hit a building like that. We didn't find out about the second plane until activity period, and then the reality of the situation started to set in. We spent most of the rest of the day watching the news and speculating on what could possibly be happening, what it meant, why it happened, and any other question teenagers would have had. We heard about the plane that hit the Pentagon and eventually the plane that crashed in (I think) Pennsylvania. We watched the towers fall.
There was a certain part of all of it that didn't seem real. I mean, we lived in America. Our country hadn't been under attack in my lifetime. On September 10th, we were untouchable. On the 11th, we weren't anymore. The images of the towers falling, the planes crashing, people jumping...it seemed like we were watching a movie.
I feel like I spent the rest of the day trying to avoid the news. Pretty sure we had basketball practice that afternoon, so that helped, but I remember going home and seeing it on TV and just thinking history had been made.
I remember the next day. I was late to school because I had to drive past the airport and there was some kind of military checkpoint. When I showed up, the receptionist/person at the window that wrote tardy slips (who was generally just kind of a mean person) said "Why are you late?" and I said "Because I have to drive past the airport and there was some military checkpoint and I got stopped for a while." She said "well you should have planned ahead" and I told her "well, next time there's a national tragedy I'll know how to respond. Sorry." And then she gave me an excused tardy.
The world changed that day though. For a while, it really did feel like we were unified. That was good. But I think for me, that was one of the days I started to understand what it meant to live in a fallen world. That and one other day when I was in fourth grade are the days I can point to that I realized...this world is not a good place. The idea that people are basically good but make some mistakes went out the window for me.
Romans 8:18-22 comes to mind. It says:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
The world itself has been subjected to the corruption and death of sin.
But the most incredible thing, to me, that happened, was seeing the gospel lived out in the following days. In a lot of ways, the firefighters that rushed into the buildings and gave their lives for complete strangers represented the sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross. When Todd Beamer and the people on UA Flight 93 sacrificed their lives, the same picture was painted. Self-sacrificing love that didn't - couldn't - expect anything in return.
We were created in the image of God. Sin distorted that image in us. There's still this idea, though, that sacrificial love is right. There's something in all of us that wants it, we yearn for it. I think that's a big part of Romans 8...there's something in basic humanity that longs for redemption, though we spend so much time trying to find it in the wrong places.
But, ten years later, I am thankful for a country that rose up in the face of adversity and united. I hope we can remember that unity and find it again (and soon) as we continue to face various crises. More importantly, though, I am thankful for a savior who not only redeems humanity, but also will redeem the whole world. I'm thankful that he's promised his people he is coming back. And I'm thankful that, despite incomprehensible evil, he's promised us this:
No, in all these things we are more than conquerers through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That's from Romans 8 too, by the way.
Ten years later, I still don't know what to make of all of it. September 11th, 2001 was the most tragic day in the history of my life and I doubt we'll ever really see the full significance of it on this side.
But I know this...I won't forget it. And if I ever have kids, I'm going to make sure they know about the sacrifices made by the NYPD, NYFD, the passengers of Flight 93, and our brave soldiers who have answered the call of duty in the wake of the tragedy. I think about my friends that are serving in various branches of our armed forces and I am incredibly thankful for them.
But above all, I'm thankful for a God that is sovereign, and that even though 9/11 was a horrible day, it didn't catch him by surprise and it didn't thwart his plan. And I'm thankful for a God who also promised us this...again, Romans 8:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
The End.
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