9/11

The events of seven years ago today are still very strong in my mind. I remember how that Tuesday morning was beautiful bright and clear here in Georgia, as it would be in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington. I was walking down the hallway of the Headquarters building at Robins Air Force Base (where I worked and still do) when one of the young captains said that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center in New York. Several of us watched on a small portable TV with bad reception as the horrors of that morning unfolded.

Its hard to understate the fear that many felt that morning. Rumors spread of additional bombs and dangers. Our base was put on lockdown status with buildings locked up and workers confined to offices, even though at the time, I rather doubted Al Quida was much concerned with a base in rural central Georgia.

I truly can't imagine what the victims of 9/11 felt as they realized that this was no adventure movie and only death awaited them. The stories we would learn of fortitude and sacrifice enoble us all, yet I can't help wondering whether I would react well in such a time. I am grateful that, so far, this cup has not been presented to me. Nor can I imagine the grief and emptiness that faced the victim's families, who simply said goodbye to their loved ones as they did every day, not knowing that this would be goodbye for this lifetime. I have tried every morning to make my last words to my wife as I leave for work assurances of my love, so that if something awful happened, she might at least have that consolation.

We need to remember that the acts of 9/11 were the evil of men, not God, and that on that morning, God's will was emphatically not done.