Where I Was on 9/11

For some reason I'm mindful that today is the sixteenth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in addition to a third intended attack on an unknown target that was foiled by courageous and quick-thinking heroes in an airplane.

I don't tend to make much of these anniversaries. We live in a sin-stained world, it's going to get worse before it gets better, but we do have the hope of Heaven to look forward to, and the presence of Christ to sustain us in the midst of this "valley of death."  Our job is to love God, be good to one another, and spread joy, peace, and truth where we can.  Not too much point dwelling on the bad stuff.  Fix what we can, and don't let the rest of it defeat us, you know what I'm saying?

But today, it's on my mind.

I was pastoring a small church in West Virginia sixteen years ago.  We had a (completely unrelated) power outage in the village, and I was walking to the post office when a neighbor came out and told me there had been attacks.  The phones worked and word was getting around that way; lots of people in the neighborhood were going and sitting in their car with the radios on--kind of an odd sight.

I wasn't much of a television watcher, then or now, but that evening, after the power was back on, my family and I spent a few hours watching the news of the day.

How did I feel about it?  There was no personal tragedy.  I don't have any stories to tell of friends or family who were caught in the attack, although I knew people who knew people who knew people--that sort of thing.  But, yes, the world did look a little different the next day.

If you or someone you know was directly affected by those horrible attacks sixteen years ago, my condolences and sympathies.  History will eventually work its healing magic on it, as it has on so many tragedies and evils that have befallen the human race.  But it's still something to never forget.

But there is coming a day when all the aches and heartbreaks of this world will be literally meaningless, their power to hurt us forever quashed, when every tear will be wiped away.

Looking forward to that time.

Hope all's well out there, friends, and God bless,