I hesitate to write a blog post on 911. This being for many reasons. But since this blog is a scrapbook for me, I want to remember. I want to remember 10 years ago and I want to remember today.
10 Years ago today I sat in MS. Culpuppers's world history class. I was beginning my freshmen year of college and MS. Culpepper was the hardest professor I had all 4 years. She might also have been the best. It was while in that class that the first plane hit the WTC and also where I found out what happened. I ran back to my dorm to tell my sleeping roommate and for the rest of the day girls on my hall gathered to watch the news coverage. Like many Americans it was hard for me to grasp was what happening and the horror that was playing out in NYC. At that time I felt for the people and for our country, but NYC was a distant place and not one close to my heart. On this day I remember finding out I was a definite for playing tennis at WCU and I remember going on a date with a boy I had met the day before. In some ways it was a normal day in the tiny town of Cullowhee, yet our country was under attack and America would never be the same.
10 years later I sit in my Manhattan apt and blog about that day. 10 years later I have fallen in love with this city and it holds a very deep place in my heart. I did not know what today would be like. Last night as I went to Brooklyn with friends I counted 14 check points with the NYPD before we even got to the Manhattan bridge. Everyone was on their guard and the police were looking out for us and for our country. Today there were an unusual amount of cops around and certain areas of the city were shut down, but otherwise it was a very normal day in NYC. It was a very normal day except for the overwhelming soberness that filled the city. It was a cloudy day and a solemn day. I told my friend on the way to church tonight that I had never seen New York so quiet. I have never said this before and may never say it again, but New York was eerily quiet today. NYC is not a quiet city, but today it was. I know people were reflecting, people were hurting, people were remembering. I cannot begin to grasp what so many of my neighbors in this city went through 10 years ago and what people felt today. Every Redeemer service had a 911 testimony today. The lady who shared tonight at my service is someone I know well. It was overwhelming to hear her talk about standing on her balcony hearing and watching the plane come over her shoulder and crash into the first tower. She saw it all and experienced it all and her life was personally turned upside down after that day. One thing I have noticed since moving to NYC is that people do not like talking about that day. Everyone has a story and it is deeply personal.
Today as Redeemer remembered and reflected on Sept 11 I loved hearing how the Lord used the church in very powerful ways after that day. In the midst of so much heartache and destruction the Lord was still at work and many people entered Redeemer's doors the following days, so much so that a new service was added (the one I now go to) to be able to house the people who were hungry for hearing God's word.
And so tonight as I go to sleep in NYC the events of that day feel so much more real to me and I pray for those who are still hurting, for those who still ache for the loved ones who were lost. And I am thankful that one day all things will be made new and we will not have to worry about the threat of terrorist on our country. One Day!
I love the simple words of the closing song we sang at church, "Give me Jesus, give me Jesus, give me Jesus. You may have all this world, give me Jesus," May this be more of our hearts desire in a world of so much evil, pain, and uncertainty.
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