9/11... We Remember (Ground Zero)
Today is September 11th. For some of you, it may be just another day,
but for us Americans, it is remembered as the day that our freedom was
threatened. 9/11.
I
remember well that day in 2001- eleven years ago. I was sitting in our kitchen that morning
when my dad called. My mom answered the
phone, and I can still remember the shock that had filled her voice, the fear I
had felt at the sound of it. She had
hurried to the TV in our family room and turned on the screen to the news
channel, and there we watched in horror as the crashing of the World Trade
Center replayed before our eyes. It had
seemed unreal as we all watched in deathly silence. America attacked? It had seemed impossible. But the skyline of New York City as we all
knew it was changed forever…
Bethany
glanced down toward the corner of her laptop scene as she worked. Almost nine o’clock. She swiveled her chair slightly to gaze out
the large windows behind her desk in her office of the several-story building. The sun was just beginning to peep around the
tops of the skyscrapers straining up to reach the dawn-lit sky over New York
City. Somewhere from overhead came the
distant rumble of a jet gliding through the clouds toward some unknown
destination. She sighed in contentment. It was a breathtaking sight as the city awoke
to a new day.
She
turned back to her open laptop. But for
the business world, the day had already begun long ago. There was work to be done for the meeting
scheduled that morning on her daily planner.
The sound of the jet came louder as it seemingly passed by
overhead. Confusion marked her
countenance as the roar of the airplane grew steadily louder… too loud, she
noted to herself in concern. As she
reached for the mug of coffee on her desktop, a resounding crash came breaking
through the stillness of the hour.
Bethany started up from her chair, sweeping a glance about in
panic. The noise was so deafening, where
it had come from, she couldn’t tell, but she knew something was wrong. It hadn’t sounded good at all. Like… a collision.
Next
came the terrifying sound like that of a wrecking ball when it demolishes a
building, and Bethany screamed as a corner of the roof of her office ceiling
fell apart. More of the ceiling
followed. It was as though time slowed
its pace. She ran to the door of her
office and pulled at the brass doorknob.
Stuck tight. Something was
hindering its opening. She frantically
tugged at the knob again and again, the horrific roar remaining steady in its
sound. Behind her the ceiling continued
to cave down rapidly, the glass of her windows shattering, and on the other
side of the door came screams of panic and sheer terror along with running
footsteps, masses of the occupants of the building scurrying to evacuate before
it was too late. The alarms of the
building rang out hardly audible amidst the crashing before they fell silent.
The
door finally swung open, and Bethany started from the office before stopping at
the sight before her eyes. Where the
floor of the hallway had once been was only a mass of rubble now… ceiling,
floor, drywall… everything from the upper stories. Bethany screamed again in horror. There was no way out. She felt the floor giving beneath her
feet. “Help me,” she screamed hoarsely. She covered her face with her hands. “Get me out!”
The ceiling above her collapsed a moment later.
Jacob
slammed on the brakes of the fire engine, bringing the racing truck to a halt
before the collapsing buildings.
Woodenly, he stepped down from the driver’s seat, unbelieving the scene
before him. He gazed up at the two
skyscrapers’ tops disappearing into a cloud of thick smoke. The Twin Towers… falling? The scene was pure chaos: fire trucks, police
cars, ambulances, rescue vehicles of all kinds at the scene of the tragedy. Screams came from the towers, and orders came
through the radio in his hand. People
stood by watching in horror as the buildings collapsed. To run into the rumble on a mission of rescue
sounded insane to rationality. He too wanted
to cover his face with his hands, the scene was too horrific to gaze upon… too
unreal. But that would do those in the
building no good. He turned to his
firefighters and roused himself into action.
“All right, come on, let’s go,” he ordered.
By
eleven o’clock, just two hours later, the Twin Towers had collapsed to the
ground and disappeared from the skyline of New York City. The third hijacked plane crashed into the
Pentagon building in Washington, D.C., and a fourth into a rural area of Pennsylvania. In the Twin Towers alone, almost three
thousand people in the buildings were trapped and lost their lives. Many more were killed in the other crashes
along with those men and women who arrived on the scenes to help. America’s strength and freedoms were challenged,
and the nation mourned.
Please
join me in praying for all of those who lost loved ones as a result of that
fateful day as we remember the heroes of 9/11.
“God grants
liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.”
~ Daniel Webster:
American statesman
“The meaning of
America is not to be found in a life without toil. Freedom is not only bought with a great
price; it is maintained by unremitting effort.” ~ Calvin Coolidge: U.S.
President
“Patriotism is
that love for country in the hearts of the people which shall make that country
strong to resist foreign opposition and domestic intrigue-- which impresses
each and every individual with a sense of the inalienable rights of others and
prepares him to accept the responsibility of protecting those rights.” ~ American
Tribune, March 7, 1890
“This is my
country, and I believe in her, and I believe in her flag, and I’ll defend her
and I’ll fight for her and serve her. If
she has any ills, I’ll stand by her and hold her hand until in God’s given
time, through her wisdom and her consideration for the welfare of the entire
nation, things are made right again.” ~ General Daniel (Chappie) James: U.S.
four-star general
Photo courtesy: www.freedigitalphotos.net photographed by Damian Brandon
~We’ve all
heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords? I was struggling to decide what to name my
blog. I wanted it to be a name that was
both creative and meaningful. As I pondered,
my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the
Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments. They are constantly in song, but what melody
our heart plays is each of our own decisions.
They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment. A musician selects his songs according to his
audience. So do we. Whether our audience is the world or the
Lord, our song will be different. This
blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His
guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me
in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my
heart-instrument. Music is a powerful
tool. Use it for His glory. “He
put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in
the Lord.” Psalm 40:3
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