This morning around 5:30 A.M. the alarm on my PDA sounded. When I got up to shut it off I got a chill in my bones as I read to myself the date. September 11th.
I really don’t know how and I really don’t know why but I am and it seems I will always be affected by those two words. September 11th.
I just came from the Firehouse where almost everyone in Engine 158 was gathered. Some of the retired guys had even come back. We had breakfast, we laughed, we joked. But at 8:46 we stood in front of the house and were silent and somber as we remembered the 343 members of their department who had died on September 11th
I don’t understand how much of the country goes about their business today. I don’t understand how business can be as usual. How can you go to class, how can you buy a new pair of pants or a DVD? How can you have a party? I guess everyone copes with things there on way. But I just want to shout “Don’t you know it’s September 11th. “
Like masochists who need the pain I think we must grieve. We must remember the horror of the 2968 who lost their lives in New York, in Washington and in a field in Pennsylvania. We must hear the strained voices as their family members read the names of the loved ones they’ve lost. We must see their tears. We must cry with them. Not to do so would be sacrilege. It’s September 11th.
This is a day like none other. I guess it’s our generation’s and our kid’s generation’s Pearl Harbor. But I really don’t know. It seems so odd. Our elected officials treat it like a holiday and I really think it should be. It could be called “The Day Things Changed Forever, September 11th.”
On this day those of us in this in this city want to be close to our families. We want to hug each other, eat together, and catch up with each other. We miss those who aren’t with us. We ask in advance “what are you doing on 9-11”. We seek religious experiences, that is we watch the coverage of ground zero or we attend a ceremony, go to a firehouse or write. We sing or listen to our 9-11 hymns; Amazing Grace and God Bless America. We hear the 9-11 bells ringing, those sharp pings marking the striking and then falling of the towers and the crashing into the Pentagon. Then we watch the tree lighting; those two overwhelming spotlights from Ground Zero at dusk, piercing the sky where once those two beautiful towers touched the heavens. It has all the hall marks of a holiday. We just will never be able to say “Happy September 11th. “
I know there is much to be thankful for today. Things could have been much worse. We’ve not been attacked in 2557 days, we‘ve made improvements in security. So much good has come out this unthinkable evil. But there are still boys and girls who don’t remember or never met their dads. There are 8 year olds who want their missing mommies when they fall down, there are grown men who were robbed of a lifetime with their sons, grown women who will never help their daughters prepare for her special day, middle age husbands and wives who will never celebrate a 25th wedding anniversary. It seems so unfair, so wrong. One day, a few moments, marred these lives forever just seven years ago on September 11th
We make memorials, lay wreaths and try to make sense of it all. Sometimes life doesn’t make sense. I wish for our nation, for myself and for my city for more than moment of silence. I think in light of this extremely loud and incredibly close event we should have a yearly national day of silence. Perhaps if there was a sacred Sabbath, a day where we shut down, we could know in a life altering way, the presence of our God, comforting our souls and strengthening our hearts, showing us the way. Then we might be able to commemorate “The Day God Changed Us Forever, September 11th. “
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
I really don’t know how and I really don’t know why but I am and it seems I will always be affected by those two words. September 11th.
I just came from the Firehouse where almost everyone in Engine 158 was gathered. Some of the retired guys had even come back. We had breakfast, we laughed, we joked. But at 8:46 we stood in front of the house and were silent and somber as we remembered the 343 members of their department who had died on September 11th
I don’t understand how much of the country goes about their business today. I don’t understand how business can be as usual. How can you go to class, how can you buy a new pair of pants or a DVD? How can you have a party? I guess everyone copes with things there on way. But I just want to shout “Don’t you know it’s September 11th. “
Like masochists who need the pain I think we must grieve. We must remember the horror of the 2968 who lost their lives in New York, in Washington and in a field in Pennsylvania. We must hear the strained voices as their family members read the names of the loved ones they’ve lost. We must see their tears. We must cry with them. Not to do so would be sacrilege. It’s September 11th.
This is a day like none other. I guess it’s our generation’s and our kid’s generation’s Pearl Harbor. But I really don’t know. It seems so odd. Our elected officials treat it like a holiday and I really think it should be. It could be called “The Day Things Changed Forever, September 11th.”
On this day those of us in this in this city want to be close to our families. We want to hug each other, eat together, and catch up with each other. We miss those who aren’t with us. We ask in advance “what are you doing on 9-11”. We seek religious experiences, that is we watch the coverage of ground zero or we attend a ceremony, go to a firehouse or write. We sing or listen to our 9-11 hymns; Amazing Grace and God Bless America. We hear the 9-11 bells ringing, those sharp pings marking the striking and then falling of the towers and the crashing into the Pentagon. Then we watch the tree lighting; those two overwhelming spotlights from Ground Zero at dusk, piercing the sky where once those two beautiful towers touched the heavens. It has all the hall marks of a holiday. We just will never be able to say “Happy September 11th. “
I know there is much to be thankful for today. Things could have been much worse. We’ve not been attacked in 2557 days, we‘ve made improvements in security. So much good has come out this unthinkable evil. But there are still boys and girls who don’t remember or never met their dads. There are 8 year olds who want their missing mommies when they fall down, there are grown men who were robbed of a lifetime with their sons, grown women who will never help their daughters prepare for her special day, middle age husbands and wives who will never celebrate a 25th wedding anniversary. It seems so unfair, so wrong. One day, a few moments, marred these lives forever just seven years ago on September 11th
We make memorials, lay wreaths and try to make sense of it all. Sometimes life doesn’t make sense. I wish for our nation, for myself and for my city for more than moment of silence. I think in light of this extremely loud and incredibly close event we should have a yearly national day of silence. Perhaps if there was a sacred Sabbath, a day where we shut down, we could know in a life altering way, the presence of our God, comforting our souls and strengthening our hearts, showing us the way. Then we might be able to commemorate “The Day God Changed Us Forever, September 11th. “
Dave Watson, An Urban Christian
