Today is indeed an important day to remember. I will never forget, I was just waking up, listening to the morning news on the radio, perhaps beginning to think about motivating and deciding what this new day would bring, when I heard the words over the radio that there had been a small plane crash into the side of the World Trade Center. My only thought at that time was, how stupid could a pilot be, and then I thought that surely if I turned on the "Today Show," they would be covering this event right in their own back yard.
Just moments after tuning into the "Today Show," I watched with horror as the second plane flew right through the frame shot, into the side of the second tower. Once again, in my naivety, my only thought was how could a professional pilot be so stupid to make such a terrible mistake. My mind simply could not grasp the idea that this could ever be intentional.
That was truly one of the worst days and one of the best for humanity. People from all over the world grew together, if only for a brief time, giving us perhaps a glimpse of what we as a world are capable of, while at the same time in all of its horror, showing at its worse what we are indeed capable of. I will never forget going to a community worship service that night in a large church, packed with people who in their darkest hour, indeed turned to God.
For me, what was sad to see was that over the next few years, as we gathered as a community to remember this day, we watched as the numbers of people attending the worship service slowly drifted away until the services were terminated completely after only a few years. How quickly we forget!
The picture at the top is the cover of a song that our HandBell Choir played in remembrance of 9/11. To this day, it is one of the most beautiful, haunting pieces I have ever heard. I only wish that I had a recording that I could play for you. It was composed by Barbara Werner and is simply titled “Parting.” On the cover is the haunting picture of the two beams of light emanating from Ground Zero.
The words on the front read:
“In memory of my father, Kermit Anderson, who was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
His office was in the impact zone on the 97th floor, North side of North Tower, One World Trade Center.
2400 miles west we slept, not realizing a parting was upon us…”
Today we remember Kermit Anderson and all who lost their lives on that tragic day and in the subsequent wars which were the result of the events of that day.
Just moments after tuning into the "Today Show," I watched with horror as the second plane flew right through the frame shot, into the side of the second tower. Once again, in my naivety, my only thought was how could a professional pilot be so stupid to make such a terrible mistake. My mind simply could not grasp the idea that this could ever be intentional.
That was truly one of the worst days and one of the best for humanity. People from all over the world grew together, if only for a brief time, giving us perhaps a glimpse of what we as a world are capable of, while at the same time in all of its horror, showing at its worse what we are indeed capable of. I will never forget going to a community worship service that night in a large church, packed with people who in their darkest hour, indeed turned to God.
For me, what was sad to see was that over the next few years, as we gathered as a community to remember this day, we watched as the numbers of people attending the worship service slowly drifted away until the services were terminated completely after only a few years. How quickly we forget!
The picture at the top is the cover of a song that our HandBell Choir played in remembrance of 9/11. To this day, it is one of the most beautiful, haunting pieces I have ever heard. I only wish that I had a recording that I could play for you. It was composed by Barbara Werner and is simply titled “Parting.” On the cover is the haunting picture of the two beams of light emanating from Ground Zero.
The words on the front read:
“In memory of my father, Kermit Anderson, who was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
His office was in the impact zone on the 97th floor, North side of North Tower, One World Trade Center.
2400 miles west we slept, not realizing a parting was upon us…”
Today we remember Kermit Anderson and all who lost their lives on that tragic day and in the subsequent wars which were the result of the events of that day.
Today as we mourn our loss and remember, let us also remember to praise God for the strength we have received and the healing that has taken place since that time.
God Bless the victims and their families, God bless our nations leaders as they continue to deal with the fallout of this event, God bless our young men and women who serve in our military and God bless our nation.
Amen
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